Please remember this tour was in 1982 and many things at the hotel must have changed by now.
When we arrive in PARIS we found out our hotel was THE SHERATON PARIS that is at the Charles de Gaulle Airport.
THE LOBBY:
When we walked in I couldn’t believe how large the lobby was it could seat well over 100 people!
CHECKING IN:
We were asked to sit down and wait until ’Chico’ got our room keys. He was back in a minute as the hotel and all of our rooms and keys ready. We were in our room within 5 minutes from arriving and our suitcases were already outside of our door. Everyone on our tour was on the same floor so that was easy to do.
OUR ROOM:
This was the biggest room MM and I had on the entire tour. We had 2 double beds, (a luxury after cramming ourselves into the small twin beds of our other rooms). The walls and carpets were a light gold color. The bedspreads, drapes and 2 large chairs were a chocolate brown. There were 3 bay sized windows at one end of the room.
There was a direct dial telephone, a television set, a radio with an alarm clock and a coffee/tea maker that had not only coffee, tea, whitener, sugar, sweetener but hot chocolate, (this was refilled twice a day).
The room had air-conditioning and was sound proof.
THE BATHROOM:
The bathroom was decorated in gold and white ceramic tiles. What a wondrous site the bathtub was! The tub had a gold and white shower curtain if you wanted to take a shower.
There was a blow drier, a make-up mirror and wonderful amenities that included soaps, shower caps, shampoo, conditioner, body cream, a sewing kit and a nail file. The towels were large and fluffy.
THE FRONT DESK:
At that time the personal safes were behind the front desk. There is someone always behind the front desk waiting to help you get into your safe, suggest where to eat or to mark the map with the best route to take for where you were going.
THE STAFF:
The maids were friendly and helpful when we asked for some foam pillows. When we asked for an ironing board a maid arrived and took our dresses away and ironed them for us. They kept the room spotless.
THE RESTAURANTS AND BARS:
We ate breakfast in one of the 20 conference rooms.
We had a drink every night, (before we went out), at the Galaxy Bar in the lobby.
We did not eat at the Restaurant Les Etoiles, (French Gourmet), or the Restaurant Les Saisons, (their Cafe that serves International food).
I TOLD YOU THAT I HAD BEEN TO PARIS TWICE:
To read about the time I was there with my Husband please read, (if you want to), my review March 6/02.
MM and I took the same tours and saw the same things.
BEFORE WE LEFT PARIS:
The night before we left Paris we were taken to a small Cafe in the Montmartre district. After dinner we were given a half an hour to shop. On our way back to the Coach we met the Canadian-Philippine couple and she told us ’Chico’ had given us an additional half-hour so we didn’t have to rush. When we arrived at the place we were told the Coach would be there was no Coach.
To make a long story short we missed the ’Paris by Night Tour’ and paid $40.00 USD to get back to the hotel, (that was by Charles de Gaulle Airport). We were furious. I went to our room to cool down. MM sat in the Lobby until the group returned. She tried to talk to ’Chico’ who brushed passed her. Our friends told us they offered to look for us but ’Chico’ forbid them to leave the Coach. The Canadian-Philippine lady walked passed her with a smug look so MM returned to our room madder than she was when I had left her.
’Chico’ was late coming down because he was kissing his girlfriend goodbye. We met her the night before and when he introduced her he told us she had met him in every City we had been in. He tried to apologize to us but we told him to ’get lost’! He then tried to pay me all the money he owed me and I told him to keep it. We had bought ’Hans’ a tip that was quite large.
THE FERRY BACK TO ENGLAND:
We missed the SeaFrance and just made an Eurostar Ferry that took us from Calais to Dover. Walking up the ramp to the ferry I passed the lady and whispered in her ear, ’G-d will get you for this.’ She was Catholic and very pious, (or pretended to be at each and every Church we visited). She began to cry and her husband tried to apologize but I kept on walking.
The sea was rough and we weren’t of the Hovercraft so we bounced around for the entire trip.
There was no bar or dinning room. If you wanted to eat or drink something there was a snack bar. The seats were wood benches with no padding and we were black and blue by the time we reached Dover.
When we reached Dover their were a few mini bus’ waiting to rush us to the train station to take the train back to London.
THE TRAIN BACK TO LONDON:
We thought that there would be a Coach to meet us to take us back to the Hotel where we were suppose to be when we arrived in London.
We had arranged to meet our friends there. They had left home to pick us up. This ends the tale of my 28-day tour of Europe.
SOME THOUGHTS:
I believe a 28-day tour is too long to be with a group of strangers. 21 days is about right
©LL