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Starting our 33 day contiki tour! Little excited, little nervous, we wake up early at 5am, to be packed and ready in the lobby by 630am. Naturally buses are delayed, and theres so much messing around, that we stand around before heading off closer to 8am. Settling ourself down in the mural meddle territory of the coach, we chat to some of the people around us, all lovely thus far! Our tour leader is Liz, and our driver is Levi, both very cool individuals. An hour drive and we arrive at Dover on the coast. The white cliffs are just amazing (as all things we are seeing seem to be!) and made completely out of chalk?! The port there is beyond massive. With 5 different shipping companies, our mammoth bus could easily slid onto deck 5, along with about 10 other buses. And that's not mentioning the other decks with a mass of cars, trucks, and people! We had breakfast on the ship, and before we know it (approx. 1hr) we are landing in France:):). We then had a 4hr drive into Paris, to our hotel on the outskirts. Outskirts of Paris are not at all nice to tell you the truth. Shanty towns, piles and piles of rubbish by the freeway, and an out of control amount of graffiti. Feeling a bit uneasy about where we would end up, it turns out to be fine, and our hotel is rather nice. A large step up from our last in London at any rate! We have an hour to change before dinner, and I spend half of that having the nicest, hottest shower! We mingle and have a few drinks with the others before dinner, and ask where they're from in Australia (our 45 people tour is 100% Aussies!) We jump back on our coach and have a nighttime tour of Paris, and when I say night, it's still sunny and bright at 10pm! The city is so pretty, and all very central which is so nice after sprawling London! We get a group pass and head up the Eiffel Tower which is just so different in real life that what I always think from the pictures. The lift is slightly scary and I'm sure not actually safe, but the views of Paris are breathtaking. And with no buildings over 5/6 stories high, there is nothing to interrupt your view for as far as the eye can see:)! On the hour, every hour, it sparkling and shines and it just a delight to see! We all run down the gather in the park to watch the spectacle. We are all sleepy and exhausted by this point, so head back (and to sleep) at the hotel. We have a free day of exploring the city tomorrow, and I just can't wait!
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