Rob and Cher 50th Anniversary European Adventure Tour, May - June 2025 (UK to Paris)

 

 

Rob and Cher - celebrating 50 years of being a couple

Well, its been a long time coming, but this is the year in which Cher and I celebrate 50 years of marriage, whilst simultaneously celebrating 57years of knowing each other.

I still recall that first auspicious meeting . We were living In Kitwe, Zambia a copper mining town in Zambia, Central Africa. My Mom and Dad had invited friends over for drinks and a meal. My Mom had told me, who was 14 at the time, that the Tobins would be bringing their thirteen year old daughter and I was expected to show my face. I remember skulking in my room and  eventually plucked up the courage to show myself. I bounded up the stairs wearing my best bright purple shiny shirt with long collars, along with my bell bottom trousers and there at the top was a delight to behold; Cheryl with a bright smile, wearing one of those awful tent dresses that were all the rage at one stage. They made their wearers look like they were expecting twins. I never quite could see the attraction of that attire.

 Expatriate teenagers in those days had to attend boarding school in either Rhodesia, South Africa or UK, so Cher and I both lived away from home most of the time. In the school holidays, Cher and I used to hang out with other teens who were also away at boarding school. Our parents were family friends, so over the years we had lots of opportunity to get to know each other.

Cher was always high on my list of “prospective girl friends”, but I could never quite pluck up the courage to make a move. Finally at age 21, I  made my move and the rest is history. We married three years later and here we are 50 years later and we’re still best friends and count our blessings for each other every day.

And this is the year we get to celebrate the adventure that our 50 years together has been.

Starting off with a Bang

Sunday,May 18th, 2025

Our family came over for a giant family birthday party. We had a crowd of about 20 or so and were celebrating about five or six birthdays, which were all happening within a few weeks of each other. We are so blessed to have so much of our family living within an hour’s drive of us, who have all gravitated from South Africa over the 34 years we have lived here.

Elaine, Sammy and Esther stayed overnight, as Sammy had arranged to meet up with a Port Perry buddy on Monday, so that was nice to have a bit of quality time with them. The next day would be the beginning of our 50^th anniversary adventure

Monday, May 19^th, 2025

We have a standing arrangement with good friends of ours, Melad and Azza Markos, who originated in Egypt and are now running a ministry reaching out to Middle Eastern immigrants. They live close to the airport and babysit our  car while we are away travelling. We helped them out once and this is their way of returning the favor. We had a cup of tea with them and had their two delightful sons, Samuel and Reuben, who are both fine young Christian men, making their parents proud with their academic and Godly pursuits in life.

We boarded our Air Canada flight, bound for Heathrow Airport in UK. First order of the flight is to scroll through scores of movies to find something that appeals. Then of course we enjoyed a meal of the best that Air Canada can offer, followed by a few short hours of napping fitfully before we were touching down at Heathrow early on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, May 20^th, 2025

Entry into UK, with our British passports was seamless compliments of their latest facial recognition technology. Another dubious tribute to AI which continues to creep deeper into our lives at every opportunity.

Our first priority was to get a Europe wide cell phone plan up and running. Thirty pounds later, we had unlimited texting, calling and 100 GB of data for a month. With our international connectdness assured, we could relax and catch a coffee and a sandwich while we waited for our bus connection to Swansea, Wales on the National Express coach

The four-hour National Express coach has to be one of the best deals around. It cost 52 pounds for both of us. We travelled in first class comfort, while the driver navigated the M4 motorway with great skill and panache. Those big coaches can really move. What a pleasure. On a recent previous trip we had rented a car and this was a far more relaxing way to navigate the road system.

We arrived around 4pm, met by Cher’s sister Lynne who drove us to her apartment building where we were put up in the guest suite, complete with our own ensuite bathroom. A cup of tea was on the boil and Ian, Lynne’s son popped in with his wife Linda and son Caleb to say hi. Their daughter Lawrie was sick so couldn’t join us.

By then lack of sleep and jet lag had taken hold and we were ready for an early night, We took our various sleeping potions, Melatonin for me and were soon off in the land of Nod.

Wednesday May 21^st, 2025

Lynne and Cher at Singleton Park, Swansea

We woke up early, compliments of jet lag and were relaxing in bed, enjoying a cup of tea and catching up on some local British news on the TV when my wife gently reminded me that it was her birthday on this day. Horror of horrors, I had forgotten my wife’s birthday.  I blame it on jet lag and was quick to point out that we had actually celebrated her birthday two days earlier with the rest of the family. Nevertheless, I was promptly consigned to the dog box until sufficient penance had been paid. I jest of course. Cher is the least demanding of wives when it comes to birthdays. My stay in the dog box was insignificant and we were soon back to celebrating 50 years of marital bliss.

We were invited to Lynne’s for a great B&B breakfast before we headed out for a day of taking in the sights of Swansea. Very close to Lynne’s apartment is a gigantic park, which one can walk all the way down to the seafront on. It includes a botanical garden and is a magnificent tribute to the town planners who have safeguarded this area for the local dogs and their owners. It was a pleasure to observe many dogs running freely and enjoying their surroundings whilst giving their owners their daily exercise.

Next up was a drive to the Mumbles waterfront. This is a very popular beachfront attraction which apparently is best avoided on the weekends. We walked along the beautifully finished waterfront trail and then climbed the hill in the background and walked back through the houses perched on the hillside.

By then we were ready for lunch and settled for a cozy little restaurant serving simple fare. I decided it was time to sample some local cuisine. I took the suggestion of two ladies sitting at the table alongside us and ordered faggots (spicy meat balls), mushy peas, mash and lots of gravy. It was a good choice, and my two local dietary mentors were delighted when I mentioned that I had enjoyed it. They departed, satisfied that they had done their bit to promote Welsh cuisine that day.

Celebrating Cher's birthday - cake and all

By then jet lag was taking it’s toll demanding its daily sacrifice of a long nap, which we succumbed to. After our nap, Ian, Linda and Caleb and Linda's parents, Rod and Jen came over for tea and cake to celebrate Cher's birthday. That was nice that at least someone had remembered Cher's birthday. Later we joined Lynne for a simple meal followed by a hot game of Golf, a great card game, which has become a family favorite. This was to be the first of a regular evening routine of a great battle of the wits.

Front L-R: Lynne, Cher, Jen
Back L- R: Rob, Ian, Linda, Caleb

Thursday May 22^nd, 2025

This was a big day. We had planned to meet up with two of Cher and Lynne’s cousins halfway between them and Swansea. We did the two-hour drive east, taking us to the far side of Bristol. Our friendly and ever patient GPS patiently re-directed us when we ignored her suggestion, by taking us half an hour out of our way via some very narrow and somewhat sketchy side roads and farm roads.

L-R: Cousin Jan, Cher, Lynne, Rob,
Cousin Lynda

We eventually found our way to the White Heart Pub deep in the depths of the English countryside. We were a bit early for the noon opening. The pub hostess unceremoniously told us to go and wait outside until opening time. The pub owner came out and softened the blow a bit by offering us a seat in the garden while we waited, and “was sure we can arrange a drink for you while we wait”. We decided instead to wander the village while we waited for cousins Linda and Jan to arrive.

We had a pleasant couple of hours over a meal catching up on family news and shooting the breeze before it was time to head back in our various directions. I took the opportunity in the back seat to offer up my daily jet lagged offering by having a snooze while Cher and Lynne nattered up front.

Our evening was wrapped up by yet another round of Golf, where the competition was hot.

Friday May 23^rd, 2025

Swansea beach at low tide

We decided to walk off some of our excess eating, by walking down through the park to the waterfront. We then strolled along the beach for a while picking at shells and getting some fresh air into our lungs. We made our way back up to the park via the University and then on into the botanical gardens. I have been pleasantly surprised at how rich and lush the vegetation is in this part of the world. The botanical gardens have been beautifully put together and immaculately maintained and was a pleasure to wander through. We could have easily spent half a day in there. We, however, had an appointment with our beds and were soon tucked up for what is fast becoming our daily snooze.

Botanical Gardens in Singleton Park
An oasis of lush beauty

We had been scheduled to have a family meal at Ian and Linda’s house, about 10 minutes walk from Lynne’s apartment. Unfortunately, a lot of them were down with a bug and we didn’t fancy catching anything at the front end of our trip. Ian, who was not sick, came over a bit later. He had been in our Sunday School in our early married days. He was a keener then, and he now runs the family ministries at the Pantygwydr, try pronouncing that, Baptist church not far from Lynne’s apartment. We always enjoy resolving some of the world’s big issues over a drink and a meal.

The evening ended with our mandatory game of Golf. We have now each won one game, so tomorrow night will reveal who has final bragging rights. 

Saturday May 24^th, 2025

Top of our agenda this day was to watch the online memorial service for Peter Hunter in East London, South Africa. Peter had been part of our small group that we were part of 35 – 40 years ago. He had been struggling with cancer in recent years and had finally succumbed to it. The service took place at Stirling Presbyterian church, where we had attended whilst living in East London.

It was a great celebration of Peter’s life. His wife Penny shared some moments from their life together, followed by some family members offering up tributes. It was good to join in the hope we have of seeing Peter again in Heaven one day.

Cher & Lynne - about to tuck into their roast 
beef and Yorkshire pudding lunch, along
with the ladies who prepared it. 

After the service, we went to the largest indoor market in Wales, where we found a great deal for a roast beef/ Yorkshire pudding dinner, followed by a stroll around Lynne’s neighborhood.

The day wrapped up with our final game of Golf which was conclusive that I had the winning touch. My bragging rights are now secure for the time being and life is sweet.

Sunday May 25^th, 2025

Jet lag was still lurking in the background and Cher and I were both awake early. We decided to go for an early morning walk in the park, which was gorgeous.

Next up was church at Pantygwydr Baptist. We attended the pre-service prayer meeting, followed by a nice service. The preacher was a young woman who had the broadest Welsh accent I’ve heard yet. It was quite hard to make out what she was saying. The English have been quite successful at exporting their language all over the globe. They have not however succeeded in training their various English speakers to speak the gold standard King’s English which would of course, facilitate mutual co-operation and understanding.

After church Lynne was in search of a particular locally made necklace as a gift for someone. The maker of the necklace’s was running a booth out in the country at a gluten free fair in a community hall.  We arrived, to find that we were about the only visitors at the fair. Every booth holder eyed us hungrily, hoping desperately that we would come and avail ourselves of their gluten free wares. We found Lynne’s necklaces and fled the gluten gals who were hovering a bit too close for our comfort.

We had decided to take Lynne for a pub meal. After some very adventurous country driving, we finally found a nice country pub that fitted the bill. We had not booked an indoor table, so were consigned to the courtyard where we sat freezing in the wind, while the locals sat in tee shirts and shorts alongside us enjoying the sunny spring day.

We wrapped up our day with a stroll to Ian and Linda’s house where we said our goodbyes whilst avoiding hugs and bugs as much as possible.

We headed home to pack up for the next stage of our trip, namely London the Chunnel and then gay Paris. It was early to bed, we had a big week ahead of us.

Monday May 26^th, 2025

We were up and at ‘em early in time to catch our 10am train departing for Paddington station in London. We said our farewells to Lynne and we were off. Week 2 of our four week adventure was ahead.

The train ride from London to Swansea, was 
was fast, silent and very comfortable

We lucked out and found empty seats with a table, so we could spread out a bit. We were soon joined by a giggling gaggle of gals. Three Moms and three  girls who were to enjoy a day of male free shopping,  the best kind, in Cardiff. We got chatting and spent a pleasant hour or so making friends with these three ladies.

Our train ride was pleasant. The train was fast and smooth with a handful of stops and we were soon drawing into Paddington station around 12.10pm. Our hotel was a short walk where we deposited our luggage whilst waiting for our check in time.

We had planned to meet up Viv and Simon Tuley for lunch and a catch up visit. Viv and Cher had been girlhood friends in our Zambian days. They have kept in contact over the years. We had attended their wedding in the London area in the early to mid 80’s when we were living there for a couple of years.  

Reconnecting with old friends is always pleasant. Lots of happy memories to enjoy together and a solid shared foundation. We found a pub which offered us a reasonable meal at an ok price and enjoyed filling in the gaps that had developed over recent years.

L-R: Simon, Viv, Cheryl and Rob 

We then had to check into our hotel properly. When Cher had booked it online, it had seemed to be quite a good deal. We were soon to find out why. The front of the hotel was covered in scaffolding, which was a clue. As we checked in the friendly receptionist eyed our luggage and said, “Your room is on the third  floor. Maybe you would like to leave your big bags downstairs?”. We had not packed that way, so I cavalierly responded, “No, we’ll be fine”. Oh dear. If I had only known.

The stairs were steep and narrow and became more so, at each level. After one level we decided to leave Cher’s suitcase with the friendly receptionist, but I bravely continued lugging mine while Cher flitted lightly up the stairs to open the room. By the time I made it to level two I was ready to call it a day. I dragged myself up to level three and found Cher sitting sipping a cup of tea, filing her nails. I am kidding of course. I had to abandon my macho image and asked Cher nicely if she would mind leaving her finger nails till later and help me with my bag. Oh dear, how far I have fallen. Fifty years ago, asking Cher for help with a mere bag would have been unthinkable. Sigh. Such are the joys of advancing years.

As it turned out our room was a strong competitor for the worst hotel room, we have ever “enjoyed”. The bed barely fitted into the space, with a narrow space to maneuver around its one side, with the other tight up against the wall. The en suite bathroom made our tight RV bathroom feel like a spacious mansion. We couldn’t open our window or our curtains as the guys working on the scaffolding could have stepped into our room and joined us for a cup of tea. Oh well, the price was right.

Rob and Cher doing our occassional
pilgrimage to Buckingham Palace

Once we recovered from the big bag lift. We decided to go exploring. Cher had done a good job of finding a hotel close to lots of the good stuff London has to offer. This being our only opportunity in London, we took off on a walking tour which included, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, where we said hi to South Africa House and the Canadian Embassy and re-lived some of our youthful experiences from a misspent youth in the early 70’s. We then moved on to Picadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch and then headed home, having completed 18000 steps in about four hours.

On our way back we walked down Edgeware Road which was full of Middle Eastern restaurants and shops. It reminded us of our visit to Israel and Turkey a few years back. Men and women were sitting at outside tables, smoking hookah pipes. We braved one of the restaurants with their exotic menus and enjoyed a tasty soup and naan bread supper before heading back to our hotel to enjoy the pleasures of a tight double bed with lumpy mattress. We think we may have found our winner for “worst hotel ever in 50 years”.

Tuesday May 27^th, 2025

We had a bit of time to lie in. We were being picked up by our Uber at 10am. Our hotel did offer a full English breakfast which did much to alleviate our otherwise negative opinions of our stay with them.

Our Uber arrived on time to take us to St. Pancras Station where we were due to catch a ride on the Chunnel train, the Eurostar, to Paris. We enjoyed chatting with our Uber driver, an Iraqi gentleman who has lived and worked in Dubai, Italy and now UK.

The Eurostar station at St. Pancras was a zoo. With trains departing for Paris every half hour it was literally jammed with people from top to bottom and end to end. The line up of people was a solid mass of people zig zagging into security, then UK departure and finally French entry. It was quite the experience. The train seating is like being on a plane – a bit tight but comfortable. The Chunnel tunnel travels 50 km 100 metres under the sea. It’s top speed recorded has been about 330km/hour. So, all in all, quite the experience.

We arrived at Gare Du Nord station in Paris on time. It is a very attractive, well-lit  building and we were immediately overwhelmed at the size of it. There was a lot going on and for some reason they had forgotten to put up the English signs, which added a touch of unnecessary complexity. We eventually figured out which end was up. We had two priorities; one to find a washroom and secondly to buy a Metro/public transit pass which would do for all our needs for our stay.

We were a bit shocked to find that a washroom break cost 1.5 Euros (about $2.50). This was just a warmup for Paris proper where it cost us 2 euros later. Once we got over that shock, we went to buy our Navigo transit pass. The man was very friendly but neglected to mention that we were supposed to put a photo on it. A friendly Metro Service guy who was checking our pass told us that not having our photo on our pass would result in a 70 Euro fine. This same guy then took our photos, printed them out, cut them to size and stuck them on for us. Who says the French aren’t a friendly bunch? We later discovered that failure to do so would have invited a 70 Euro fine.  

Finally, we were ready to brave the Paris Metro system, with all our luggage. We had innocently imagined that there would be escalators or elevators to move our heavy stuff around. We had to painfully lug our bags down and later up numerous flights of stairs.

As part of our Metro adventure, I was twice impressed by the gallantry of two young people. One young guy offered up his seat for an older woman. Then, on our final exit from the Metro we had about three levels to negotiate with our luggage. A young woman noticed us struggling and ignored our claims of, “we’re ok”, and just grabbed our biggest bag and lugged it herself. I must say I was mightily impressed – and thankful.

Cher had done a good job of finding a hotel close to our Metro station. We had a sinking feeling though when we saw it had three stories. Hopefully we were not on the third floor as we had been in London. Sure enough, our rather laid-back male receptionist blandly informed us we were in room 34 on the, you guessed it, third floor. We looked a bit dismayed, and he said, “don’t worry. I will help you”. I made sure he got the biggest bag. As we ground our way up the levels, we didn’t notice a single other guest. Chery said, “This place seems empty. We booked months ago. Why did you put us on the third floor”. His response settled our complaining; “We didn’t realize how old you are” That left us with food for thought, while we unpacked and pondered how we are going to book hotel rooms in the future and how old one needs to be to get a ground floor room.

The Seine with the sun setting over it

After a mandatory cup of tea in our room, we decided to go and walk down towards the Seine and get oriented. It turns out that our hotel is on the edge of the Chatelet des Halles. This is a large area of quaint restaurants, coffee shops and eateries from every part of the world it seems. We were going to need supper later so checked out some of the menus. We quickly figured out that if we just treated Euros, which have a 60% premium to our currency, as if they were Canadian dollars, the prices seemed a bit more digestible.

Our first glimpse of Notre Dame

We got as far as Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle, both of which we planned to visit in the next couple of days, before we turned around. We were feeling peckish so decided it was time to pick a place to eat. We ended up at a crepe place and ordered one savory and one sweet and we would share. Oh my goodness. The savory crepe weighed about a kilogram and looked daunting. We valiantly shared it and then ploughed our way through the sweet one. We won’t be repeating that order again anytime soon.  We headed back to our hotel for an early night, having completed 11000 steps, which was enough to assure us of a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday May 28^th, 2025

We enjoyed a very simple, but pleasant ‘Petit dejeuner” breakfast at the hotel. There seems to be a standard formula for this meal as it was being advertised at numerous places. It consists of orange juice, a croissant and/or bread, butter and jam along with tea or coffee. This light meal cost us 8 Euros, about 13 dollars. Not too bad, and a pleasant start to the day.

The beginning of the stairs up to Sacre Coeur

First on our menu was a visit to Sacre Coeur which we got to by Metro followed by a walk up a very steep hill. This would be the beginning of what was to be a lot of walking on this day. This gorgeous church was built about 100 years ago. It sits atop the highest hill/mountain in Paris and the views of the city were amazing. The inside of the church was ornate and breathtaking. I am always inspired by the work, energy and dedication that goes into these beautiful edifices. They represent mankind’s best efforts to reach up to God and bless Him with their efforts.

Sacre Coeur is set in some beautiful surroundings

Sacre Coeur is in the Montmartre district which has many quaint shops and markets. We did a bit of souvenir hunting and then walked down the hill towards the nearest Metro station. At the bottom we found ourselves at the base of the funicular railway and that our rail pass covered the cost, so we decided to enjoy the free ride back up the hill before walking down again in front of the church, taking in the various views as we went.

Next up was a Metro dash across to the Arc de Triomphe to get a few obligatory photos before heading east down the Champs Elysee, back in the direction of Notre Dame and St. Chapelle, which had been highly recommended to us and where we had a later booking. ]

Rob - taking coffee, fresh from viewing
the Arc de Triomphe

By then we were ready for a coffee and decided to stop in at one of the streetside restaurants within view of the Arc de Triomphe. We were jolted back into the real world by paying about 20 dollars for one regular coffee and one cappuccino. Sheesh. Just thinking about it still takes my breath away. Having said that, we soon got used to the idea that this is just the cost of a coffee in this part of the world in proximity to some of the most sought after places of interest in the world.

Our stroll down the Champs Elysee was great. It has very wide, pedestrian walkways on either side, with traffic down the middle. As always, it was fun to enjoy the hustle and bustle all around us. We stopped off in a park and had a picnic lunch, fed some pigeons and then went in search of what turned out to be a two Euro (three dollar) washroom break. It’s enough to make oneself give up eating and drinking.

The Fontaine de Mer at the Place de la 
Concorde with Egyptian obelisk to the left
and National Gallery in the background

We stopped for a while at the Place de la Concorde, which is a very grand wide open circle with the National gallery  on one side and a giant 3000 year old Egyptian obelisk in the center. The obelisk is one of two from Luxor, which was “donated” to France in the early 1800s by Egypt.

Not much further on was the approach to the Louvre, apparently the largest art museum in the world. It truly is massive. Art is not our most favorite thing, so we had not even bothered to wrestle with the massive crowds waiting to enter the building. We found a nice patch of lawn and stopped for a rest and a snack. We were entertained by at least two sets of young women who were dressed up to the nines and having a wonderful time posing for camera shots. They were quite unconcerned by their audience. We wondered if they were wannabee models, beefing up their portfolios.

The Louvre - impressive but we couldn't
face another line up

We had to be at St. Chappelle for our 5.30pm reservation, so heaved our aching bodies off the ground and headed for our last port of call for the day. We were advised to be there half an hour early to allow for security checks and so on. We got there on time to find two- or three-line ups designated for different reservation times. It turned out that they were running late, so we had to stand for about an hour before we finally made it in. It was worth the wait, although inside it wasn’t well organized, with a lack of signage. There were explanatory notes in every language except English. This happened to us the next day too and we are suspecting it is yet another plot by the dastardly French to humiliate the English. That’s our theory and we’re sticking to it.

At the end of St. Chappelle we were done, and we headed for home. En route we had to cross the Seine. It was a gorgeous evening, and we noticed folks sitting out at an outdoor cafe on a lower pathway closer to the water. We decided it was too nice an evening to sit in a stuffy hotel room, so we made our way down there and enjoyed a drink and basking in the sunshine. We made our way back to our hotel via the Chatelet les Halles to enjoy a shared pizza before heading home and bed, having walked 24100 steps. Our aching bodies were confirming that number and sleep was assured.

Thursday May 29^th, 2025

Today was our final day in Paris and we needed to make the most of it. Getting a reservation to secure a visit to Notre Dame had proved impossible, but we had found a flaw in the system – if you were attending mass, you didn’t need a reservation. How’s about that for a novel idea – a church being used for something other than tourism?  

Notre Dame - looking bright and shiny after its 
recent do over

We had a quick yogurt and banana in our room before launching out at 7.15am for our 8am mass. When we got down there, we found people arriving for entry into the church with no reservations and lo and behold they were being let in. However, we had thought it would be good to enjoy the reflection of proper service in such wonderful surroundings, so opted to attend the mass. It started half an hour late and it was all in French, but the crowd attending wasmassive, almost filling all the seats. It was good just to be in the service and let the worship wash over us as we contemplated the great gift that Jesus offered us through His sacrifice for us.

After the service we explored the rest of the church. They have done an amazing job of restoring the church after the disastrous fire, five years back.

Out of the church, we headed for the Latin Quarter on the left bank of the Seine. We took a brief dip into the Sorbonne University and then were ready for a “petit dejeuner” at a cute little outdoor café.

We headed west along St. Gemaine road and then followed the guide book through some supposedly popular shopping streets – just more overpriced stuff. Nothing to tempt us.

Les Invalides from the back end. This is the 
edifice which houses Napoleon's tomb

Our objective was Les Invalides, a gigantic museum complex dedicated to France’s military prowess. We stopped at a park for a picnic lunch before we entered and enjoyed the grand looking building we were about to enter. When we got there, we discovered we had approached the complex from the wrong side and we had about a 20 minute walk to get to the entrance. Once inside we weren’t that impressed. There was a vast amount of display, but a lot of it was in bad light, making any descriptive material hard to read. The highlight was Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb which was very grandly done. They certainly didn’t leave any stone unturned in commemorating France’s greatest general.

Napoleon's sarcophagus has 5 nested coffins
each made of increasingly rare material

We had a 5.30pm reservation to go up the Eifel Tower, with the usual advice to arrive 20 mins early to allow for security and so on. The walk over there was pleasant, but at this stage we were flagging and we found a park on the way down to stretch out and join the hundreds of others who were enjoying the park. I had missed my usual post lunch power nap, so lay on the grass with my backpack as a pillow and took the opportunity to recharge. I could have stayed there if duty hadn’t called.

The north facing view from the Eifel Tower

The Eifel Tower was a zoo. Thousands of people milling about. Some climbing the tower. Others taking the elevator, as were we, and many more just hanging about for no apparent reason. We stood in a variety of line ups for about an hour and finally were whisked upward to our second level viewing spot. It really was worth all the pain of having got there. It was great to view the Paris skyline and identify all the places we had visited and seen. It was a fitting end to our rather jam-packed two days in Paris.

Talking about Jam packed. We caught the Metro back to our hotel. It was a public holiday, and it seems there is a competition on days such as these to see how many folks one can fit on one underground train. On embarking we took a deep breath and squeezed on, with barely room to breathe. For the next 10 or so stops, additional people just kept squeezing in. For folks who suffer from claustrophobia, this would have been a nightmare. We eventually made it to our destination, found a pizza place, enjoyed a cold drink, debriefed and cleared a whole bunch of photos before heading a few steps to our hotel to pack. Tomorrow we are heading to Copenhagen, Denmark to catch our cruise.

Today was our biggest walking day so far, 26, 786 steps and 18km. We need all this all pre-cruise exercise as I am guessing the good food on board will prove more tempting than we can resist.

Friday May 31^st, 2025

Today we were up at crack of dawn. We were catching public transportation to the airport and we didn’t want to face trying to maneuver all of our luggage in the middle of rush hour traffic. We had discovered a station very close to our hotel which would take us direct to the airport and the train could be accessed directly with no steps, but four levels of escalators. We left at 7am and definitely beat the rush, but only just. We lucked out and had stumbled onto an express train to the airport.

We got chatting with two ladies who had boarded at the same time as us. One of them had just survived a pick pocket attempt. She had heard a zip go and felt a tug on her back pack. It was two teenage girls, who presumably ran off. After all of our exposure on the streets of Paris for two days, we felt blessed to have been protected from this menace which we had been warned about.

Well this ends the self-directed part of our anniversary trip. From here on, we will more or less be in the hands of our cruise line MSC as we broaden our horizons to the Baltic, an area we have heard lots of good things about, but to date had no chance to enjoy.;