DAY 16, Saturday, July 3 Paris

This was our last official touring day. Did I mention we were greeted with rain, lighting and thunder on Friday? Good thing it started as we got off the bus and stopped after a brief down pour. Unfortunately it was the forecast for our last day. The good news was that our guided tour was sight seeing from the bus along the elegant boulevards to see the Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre building and the Opera House. We drove from the Place de la Concorde along the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. We took a survey of the city from the heights of the Eiffel Tower (second level) which was built for the World's Exhibition of 1889. We took a guided tour of the Louvre and saw some of its most famous art. Perhaps you can identify the famous lady in the picture. We will definitely have to return during the winter because the crowds were excessive. In the evening we took in a dinner show at a cabaret. Before we turned in for the night, we took a stroll out to take one last picture of the Eiffel Tower. It was the perfect ending to our European vacation.

DAY 15, Friday, July 2 Lucern - Paris

It was a long drive to Paris! Our hotel is just one block from the Eiffel Tower. This is the view outside our window. Need I say more?

DAY 14, Thursday, July 1 Lucerne

We spent some time walking around the city on our own. Our hotel is right in the heart of the city. We crossed the Lucerne River by way of the covered Chapel Bridge which was built in 1333 and rebuilt after a fire. In the afternoon we ascended Mount Pilatus by cog-wheel railway. The mountain is at 7,000 ft. elevation and it took us approximately 20 minutes to get to the top. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy at that altitude and we did not get very good views. Since the day was warm at the lower elevations, we expected to cool off at the top but it was also warm. The hotel staff apologized for the heat spell. We learned several interesting things about this country. It is tri lingual. They speak German, French, and Italian. It is also not part of the European Union so Euros have to be converted to Franks. What a pain! Now what do we do with all that change?

DAY 13, Wednesday, June 30 Florence - Lucerne

This morning we traveled north, past the great commercial center of Milan and the Italian Lake District, to the Swiss border. Since we arrived early in the afternoon, we were taken to visit the Lion Monument commemorating the hundreds of Swiss soldiers who died defending Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette during the French Revolution. In the evening we went off to eat a traditional Swiss meal at a local restaurant.