We finally left Ft. Lauderdale on day 2 and arrived on day 3. We couldn’t make it to Paris, so we took our car to Wurzburg Germany. Day 4 - After Wurzburg, we went back to Frankfurt to pick up the motorhome. We then headed for Paris. We slept that night in the RV in one of the aires (parking area at the rest stops). It was a very restful night. The next day we arrived in Paris. Our GPS ran out of battery while we tried to find the campground. Unfortunately, we drove within Paris for about 5 hours.
We went through the Muslim, Jewish, and “Red Light” districts. Although very sad, it was a little funny when we drove down the road where the “Ladies of the Niight” wait on evening employment opportunities. I think the profession must be legal there because the heavily tree-lined street seemed to have a different “Lady” hanging out by it. Then the funniest thing was how the “Gentlemen” came to escort the ladies for the night. We saw one such “Gentlemen” pull up with a trailer. We were speculating that he was having a party of some type for the “Ladies”.
By the time we finally found the campground, they had closed the gate for the evening. So we went looking for another, only to pull our van back into another aires location. We slept well again. But we still had not seen Paris beyond it’s “ladies” and very congested traffic.
Day 5 - We decided to get a campsite for that night first before heading into the city. We found a campground in Maisons Lafitte, France. We checked in and walked about a 1/2 mile to catch the train into Paris. We ate at a wonderful restaurant and had a variation of pasta. We then went to Notre Dame Cathedral. From there we went to the Louvre. We really enjoyed the artwork, but seeing the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory was great. Taylor really seemed to enjoy it a lot.
From the Louvre, we went up the Champs –Ellysees to the Arc de Triumphe. We then went to the Eiffel Tower. WOW! We had a fun-filled, packed, tiring day.
Day 6 – THIS JUST WAS NOT MY DAY!
We woke up and got ready at the campground. Performed maintenance on the RV and headed on our way to Visp, Switzerland. However, just a few kilometers down the road from our departure, we went into the town of Sartrouville, France . While there, I had an ACCIDENT. I decapitated the motorhome. My CPS instructed me to go down this street. I didn’t see any height limitation signs, so I went driving “down” this road. About the time I realized that the tunnel we were heading into was too low, I slammed on my brakes, but I was too late! I heard this cracking sound and Treila screaming. She had been hit by some of the debris and had cut her finger. She started crying bloody murder. I think that this was from shock than actually being hurt.
The police were wonderful. They couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak French, but the young men who helped me were great! They had to deflate the tires and helped me to back out of the tunnel. They stayed with me until I was on my way.
Unfortunately, the company I rented from wasn’t available. I waited about 5 hours before giving up on them(36 hours later and I’ve still not heard from them). Our agent told us to go ahead and that the motorhome to the Paris location. However, they didn’t have any more rentals for us and daylight was fading fast. The Paris RV folks called the taxi and we left for the airport at Orly. From here I booked another car to drive the duration of our trip.
After we left the car rental company, we headed for Germany. We stopped to eat a Chinese meal that was wonderful. We couldn’t find any place to stay, so we slept in our car.
Day 7 - It was a long trip
We continue on our way to Visp and changing our minds to skip Switzerland .We booked a hotel and arrived at our hotel that I booked this afternoon. It was a nice hotel within the country side.
I’m falling asleep at my computer, so I’ll finish later with pictures!
