A Long Journey from Nice to Paris

Today we start our journey north towards Paris in a few days time. First stop is Cannes home of the film festival and one of the most prestigious of the French Riviera resorts. Until you have walked along the harbor front and seen first hand the size of the motor yachts some people around the world own, its hard to imagine the size of them.

A number of people took advantage of the fact that the red carpet was out at the film festival hall and took some celebrity photos. There was time for a coffee and generally just enjoy a beautiful morning.

After rejoining the motorway our drive brought us into the Maritime Alps on our way to Avignon. This a beautiful and historically important walled city built on the Rhone River in Provence. It was the home of the Popes for over half a century in the 1300's. After the popes left here it laid the foundations for enormous unrest and the great schism of the church.

We walked to the Papal Palace and Notre Dame and then on to the main square with its Christmas markets for time to have lunch and do a little shopping.

A big drive this afternoon north to Lyon at the point where the Saone and Rhone rivers converge. It is the second larges city in France and a major commercial center. Despite that it is quite a beautiful city and after an orientation we made our way to the hotel for dinner.

The grand finale in Paris is our goal today as we travel north from Lyon. First stop today is Beaune a charming little Burgundian village once the capitol of Burgundy. Unfortunately with sub zero temperatures and sleat coming down we took a vote and decided with many sick people it might note be in everyones best interests so we kept going towards Paris.

From here we travel through the heart of Burgundy and I talk about a number things like. French wines, regional and Haute cuisine, canal systems farming and more. Lunch is on the Autoroute on our way.

We arrive at Versille at 2.15 and meet our local guide Jocelyne who will also be with us for our full day in Paris. Versille is one of the worlds great buildings. For those folks not going with Jocelyne we make our way to the hotel to check in and drop off the bags.

We return to collect the people who have done the tour of Versilles and make our way to the hotel for a well earned rest in what is one of my favorite Paris hotels.

Tonight we have reserved seats for the Moulin Rouge cabaret and believe me it never disappoints. Dinner is OK, the service is OK, but the show is fantastic and the hottest thing in Paris. On the way out there are another 800 people waiting in the cold to get in for the 11pm show.

For more information about traveling; please have a look at http://www.affordable-cruises-tours.com.