We're docked in Paris! A day of touring with Avalon! June 26, 2015

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It's our last day of our river cruise, and boy have we seen and done so much!  Here we are, back in Paris, where we began! I love that Avalon includes a full day here as part of the itinerary.  This is great for those who can't build an extra day or two into the trip at the beginning or the end of their vacation. While, sure you could spend days here and not even touch the surface of this city, at least with a full day of touring with the cruise line, you see the highlights! We had a full day in store for us today, as we pretty much did every day! Today there were quite a few options to choose from, which was great. In the morning, we could choose either a Walking Tour of Paris, or a panoramic bus tour with a few photo stops. This gave everyone on board an option, depending on just how active they wanted to be. And of course, you could just decide to go off on your own too if that's what you would like!  Carol and I decided on the Walking Tour of Paris. It was already a beautiful morning!

Our tour would take us into the "Heart of Paris", to the Islands of the city and to the Notre Dame cathedral. Once again, as has been consistent with Avalon, their local guides have been great!

 First we would take a bus into the city center, always some photo opportunities on the way!




And when we got to this little island in the center of the city, we began our walking tour.  Learning more about the history of Paris and admiring the shops and streets and soaking it all in on this perfect summer day!














Of course we couldn't miss seeing one of the famous "Locks of Love" bridges in Paris!  And we were there just as the big controversy was happening.....they were just starting to remove the locks permanently.  They have become a hazard and would be taken away.  No more symbols of love everlasting! 





So many locks!  And this is just one of many bridges covered with locks!




And then it was time to head over to Notre Dame...we'd driven by it and walked by quite a few times already, but now it was time to go inside. On this tour, we had the all important "skip the line" access tickets.  Such a necessity when you are traveling!


We learned a bit about the facade of the cathedral

And then it was time to go in.  We stayed together as a group, our guide gave us the tour, and then we had some free time to wander and take it all in.


















A little "making of Notre Dame" model


After we all met up with our group, we did a bit more walking through this area of Paris.

One of the entrances to the Metro


Of course there's fresh flowers for sale almost everywhere!





We enjoyed our morning walking tour, and now it was time to make our way back to the boat for lunch.  We would have another tour this afternoon.  So far so good today!

























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