France, The Tour That Wasn't, Part II

To recap, if you missed my previous post...We were suppose to be on a tour in France when Covid struck.  So while we were in France,  NOT  on our tour we were in isolation in our hotel room and this was our standard fare.  Room service with wonderful baquets, french cheeses and meats with wine of course.

Once back in Paris (in order to fly out after isolation), we lucked out...finally something went our way.  Our Marriott was at the airport, but right next to the airport was Roissy-en-France.  A commune in the NE subburd of Paris with a population of 2,883.  Part of the Charles De Gaulle Airport (formerly known as Roissy Airport), is on property that was part of the commune.  This little historic village was within walking distance to the Airport Marriott.

Through out the village, you see historic pictures next to buildings showing you what it looked like back then.  This is The Church Eglise Saint - Eloi.  Then and now.

At least we were able to get outside and go for a walk staying well away from people and masked.  (Though I took my mask off for the picture, you can see me holding it).  Cobblestone walk ways, cute little houses with painted shutters, and a fair number of cafe's dotted this little commune.

As we made our way back to our hotel it was getting dusk out and all the lights in the village were coming on.

If you're on your way to or from other sights in France, do yourself a favor and stay a night at the Airport Marriott so you can spend an evening in this historic quaint little village.  Unlike us though, stop and eat in one of the cafe's, they all looked so inviting, and presumable you won't be isolating due to Covid.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your google+ profile link or your blogger profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit. Profile pages do not.

France, The Tour That Wasn't

A round about just half a block away from our hotel, Novotel Chateau de Versailles.  We didn't make it across the street to read the inscription to know what the momument is.  But it was quite large and intresting.  We took a quick snap with our phones in between car traffic.

One view of Versailles.  On day one of our arrival to Versailles after a 45 minute car ride from the airport (Charles De Gaulle) in Paris, we went walking just to explore.  Versaille was just a couple of blocks from our hotel.  We arrived just as they were locking the gate as the inside tours were done for the day.  We were ok with that as we would be touring this with the tour group later.  We arrived a day earlier than the tour to have extra time to adjust, and recoup after the long flight.  So we were able to see the outside.  Even in this one picture, you can tell how large and grande it is, and that rehad is in process.  After all, it was re-built by King Louis XIII, back in 1631...or at least that's when he started with his grand plan.

We continued to walk around and explore looking for a little cafe for an early dinner.  The little patio area where the green awning is attracted us.  We had a couple of glasses of wine and a lovely light dinner as we enjoyed the good weather.  We chatted about what we would do the next day before meeting up with the tour director and the group.  We planned an early dinner, walk back to the hotel and have a nightcap at the hotel bar before calling it a night.

Covid had other plans for us!  Had we met up with the tour group the next day we would have had wine and gotten to know the group and director, and then headed to our first savory French dinner.  The following day we would tour the private apartments of King Louis XIV, The Sun King.  We would have seen the Hall of Mirrors and opulent bedchamber of the queen.  That evening we would have viewed the Royal Gardens of Versailles with a twilight promenade and enjoyed the Baroque fountains.

As the tour group continued on their merry way, we spent 5 days of isolation in a hotel room, scrambling to make alternative flight arrangements to return home once the isolation period was over.

The tour was through Collette, a 12 day tour, "France Magnifique" using Marriott Vacation Club Points.  We added a day in front of the tour and 2 days after.  Now we wait to hear back from the travel insurance folks in hopes of getting our money back.  I might add this tour was apparently doomed from the start, as it had been scheduled 5 different times thanks to Covid.

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your google+ profile link or your blogger profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit. Profile pages do not.