Getting an all clear on my first scan after my liver resection has just been a passport to fun for us. In another six months I will have a scan again and we will just have to hope the news is good then. For now though it is Fun City! It tends to make us plan in six month periods and we set out goals for each 6 month period. The first six months after my operation saw a plan hatched that was all about adventure and holiday. We did The South of France and MINI United in May, The South of France and The Le Mans Classic in July and The South of France and Florence in September. We also squeezed a long weekend at the Edinburgh Fringe in too! Yes it was a fun six months.
That was a great plan and we have had a wonderful Summer packed with fond memories. Now though the weather isn’t so fine, so our plan for the next six months is not all about holidays. First, we have ordered a new car a MINI JCW Coupe and this should turn up late November or early December and this should give us plenty of excitement to see us through the cold winter months. To fuel our excitement we needed to get ourselves MINIFIED and what better way than to go and see the MINI stand at the Paris Motor Show, so that became a big part of our Winter plans. The rest of our plans are about upgrading camera equipment and giving our house a bit of TLC. A few Christmas parties, Lady Peanut’s birthday on Christmas Day and there you have it our Winter six month plan.
So Here Is Our Weekend Trip To Paris
We had been to the Paris Motor Show in 2006, so we decided to use that as the blueprint for our 2012 trip. So, dinner in Portsmouth on Friday night an overnight ferry crossing with cabin on Friday night and a drive to the Motor Show Saturday morning was a starter for ten. After the motor show we would drive ten miles to Versailles for dinner and our overnight hotel stop. Sunday after breakfast we would park near the Eiffel Tower and see Paris from the top of the tower. Then we would head back to Le Havre for a 5 pm crossing that would see us back in Malvern at Midnight. That is basically what we did…
Our partners in crime for this adventure were The Elf and Fandango who travelled in the back of ClubBeast and RVW and Storm in their MINI Clubman. We all met at The Harvester in Portsmouth at seven for dinner and a pint. It was a fun meal and I wont deny that I rather like their complimentary salad bar which you get as a starter. We have met up many times in the past at the Great Salterns mansion at the start of MINI adventures and being there once more brought all these to mind.
A drink on the boat and a bed for the night was next and then we were driving through France to the Motor Show. After an hour we stopped for breakfast and then carried on to the show. The plan was to find a car park close to the Paris Expo, park up and enjoy the show. Well basically this was exactly what we did but typically we made it harder than it should have been. In truth we ended up parked just under a mile from the show which was just a straight walk from the car park to the main entrance by walking along the rue de Vaugirard.
We enjoyed the show a lot and bizarrely for a Motor Show spent a lot of time on the BRM watch stand where Fandango ended up treating himself to a new strap for his watch. You can read all about our day at the Motor Show here.
After a day walking around the show we needed a coffee before the short drive to the hotel so we stopped along the rue de Vaugirard to rest our legs and soak up a bit of Parisian street life. After this we battled through a bit of French traffic for half an hour to get to the Cheval Rouge in Versailles. Our hotel is set right in the middle of Versailles just by the market and about 800 yards from the famous Palace, but more importantly it has about ten restaurants on its doorstep! A small dampener was put on the evening though as Peanut had to cry off dinner with a hellish headache. It was no good her fighting it she needed to rest for the busy day tomorrow. Anyway the rest of us carried on as best we could with a couple of bottles of wine helping us through dinner!
Sunday was breakfast at eight and then a hop and a skip back into Paris. We had planned to park in the same place as we did 6 years ago just across the bridge from the Eiffel Tower. It would have worked too but unfortunately there was a half marathon going on which had over 20,000 runners and it started… yes exactly where we planned to park the cars! A quick search on Tom Tom found us a car park though and still in easy walking distance of the tower. The tower though was half hidden in clouds so our views were not the best when we got up there. Still worth it though and I have to say that the Thai Chicken soup with croutons that we had in the bar on the tower was just gorgeous. We have requested it as a starter on Christmas Day before the salmon main that The Elf is preparing! (It’s Christmas Jim but not as you know it!)
After the tower it was back in the cars for the run back to Le Havre and the boat. The boat trip back was calm enough but it is a long time on the boat and in spite of having a meal, plenty of wine and cheese and crackers we still got a bit bored.
So there you have it our dash to Paris! It seems weird for me to leave work at 5 on Friday and be back in again at 8.30 on Monday morning yet in between we had been to The Paris Motor Show, Versailles and up the Eiffel Tower! Still that’s how I like it! Great fun, in a great city with great company!
Click the black and white pictures for a slideshow of Paris, and the Motor show picture for some photos from the show.
iBeastie 