April in Paris

21st April
Today the local WI entertained itself with another session of playreading. We read two short plays which were quite enjoyable and not too dated in spite of being sets which were physically pretty old. We are now going to explore the idea of using the Bucks County Library playsets (if they still exist) as it would be expensive to buy sets unless we were seriously thinking of putting on a production.Our WI used to be very strong on drama but besides winning the South East Region WI competition about 10 years ago we have avoided the stage since.Most of that original cast are still members but they are all short of spare time for the commitment to rehearsals and evening presentations.
16th-19th April in Paris
We will all remember the date of the volcanic ash alert because that was the weekend Bucks WI members travelled to Paris by Eurostar to celebrate in style the 90th anniversary of the Bucks Federation of WIs.Thirty of us left St Pancras International on the Friday morning, arrived in Paris at 2.30pm local time and stopped the traffic as we crossed to our coach outside the Gare du Nord. Our guide said it had never been done before but we explained we always did that at the Albert Hall! We enjoyed a three hour tour of the city in gorgeous sunshine with our lovely guide. We checked in to the hotel and then walked to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory dinner. You can imagine the level of noise and chatter in there but we did stop for a few minutes to drink a toast to BFWI.We got lost on the way home ---the wine may have had something to do with that! It certainly seemed farther and we had to ask for directions quite often.
Next morning 14 of us went with Elizabeth, our guide to Versailles. We travelled on the RER public transport system and our fare seemed to get smaller by the minute as Elizabeth did deals with the ticket office. We had great adventures with the closing doors on the train but all arrived safely if slightly bruised at the palace. And the sunshine was wonderful, lighting up all the gold on the gates and in the rooms inside. After a lunch sitting outside on the pavement of a good restaurant, we explored the palace gardens and wandered about in the sunshine. Our guide took some members back to the hotel while two of us attempted to go up the Eifel Tower. Actually we just looked at the queue and found out it would be a 2 hour wait for a lift, so decided to find another cafe outside in the sun instead.
While we were away the others had explored museums, art galleries and visited the Galeries Lafayette for le shopping.
Next day sun still shining, 20 of us boarded a bateau mouche and glided down the Seine listening to a commentary in 7 different languages. After that everyone went off in different directions to view the Louvre collection, the gardens or the Impressionist paintings at the Musee d'Orsay.
The travellers tended to gather together in the hotel garden in the evening to plan further forays or to talk over what they had done. People were sitting out until 10pm like starlings gathering before bedtime.Other guests were stranded trying to get coaches and trains home. One party from Finland left to endure a 30 hour coach journey; we never found out how some girls from the Balkans were going to make it.
Next day we had until 3.30pm before joining the coach to return to the station which was packed with people trying to board trains as their flights had been cancelled.People were queuing to get in to the station never mind get a ticket. Thank Goodness BFWI didn't decide to go by air! A young Irish couple helped us with our luggage on and off the train and several of the party thought they were Eurostar staff.I overheard one of the party doing a grand job promoting the WI. What an easy way it is to travel to Europe by Eurostar! I don't think I shall fly again.We arrived home tired but happy to find our local coach waiting to deliver us across the county.
From messages received on our return everyone seems well content with her short break: the hotel was good and the travel firm that took us had thought of everything to ensure that we enjoyed ourselves---even the weather.