The journey home begins

It was a day of train journeys – from the local station of Port Boulet to Tours, a short 5 minute journey from Tours to St Pierre des Corps, the TGV to Paris, the free Charles de Gaulle airport metro to get to our hotel, and later in the afternoon, a train journey into the centre of Paris and back again.  Phew!    

As if sensing the impending end of our holiday, my stomach decided to mount a protest and I had a particularly restless night as a result.  It made sure I was awake nice and early anyhow.  And early it needed to be because our train was at 8:18am.  Mark and Debbie who have been absolutely wonderful hosts for the duration of our stay, again went out of their way to accommodate us this morning.  Breakfast was brought to our room early and Mark delivered us to the train station, even standing on the platform with us until we were sure the train was on its way.  We couldn’t thank him enough for the last three days, which have been absolutely superb.

The next few hours passed in a blur of trains, railway platforms, and countryside rushing past the train windows.

The Memorial at Langeais station to commemorate the 40 Allied POWs who were being transported by train through Langeais by their Nazi captors when it came under Allied fire.  The POWs who were not killed or injured were force marched to St Pierre des Corps and misery in Germany

Soon the familiar graffiti covered concrete and rail wagons on the outskirts of Paris came into view.  Ah Paris – it has been five years since our last visit, good to see you again!  After a lengthy wait to get into our hotel room and a much needed rest, we headed into the city centre.

Concorde frozen in time at Charles de Gaulle airport

It was a warm sunny Sunday afternoon and we were treated to glorious architecture, a Louvre forecourt buzzing with activity, a fleeting glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and the twinkling waters of the Seine. 

The Louvre

A glimpse of the Eiffel Tower 

The Louvre forecourt

The 'Love Lock' bridge over the Seine

View along the Seine

Sadly my stomach robbed me of much enjoyment and after a light meal in a riverside café with a properly rude waiter, we decided to head back to the hotel.  Although only a short trip into the city, at least it gave us bragging rights:

‘So what did you do over the weekend?’ 

‘Well I just happened to be in Paris dahling….’

Our holiday ended the same way it began – staying at an airport hotel.  However we did treat  ourselves to some luxury on our last night in Europe with a comfortable room at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle.  And very nice it was too.

Some luxury at Hilton Charles de Gaulle