Day 7: Goodbye Istanbul. Hello France! - by Bayley

Bayley at Topkapi

Today was a very happy but sad day.

The happy part being we all get to go to Paris!!

The sad part being we have to leave our tour guide, Bitsy, behind. We all agree that she is the best tour guide ever.

We all held her in high regard as she was the one who gave us, not only knowledge of Turkey, but also Wi-Fi so we can stay in contact with the world.

It was very hard to say goodbye and some of us even got a bit emotional (Tegan) but really we all wanted her to come with us.

But before the airport we did do other things. It all started with our usual wakeup call at 7:00am, buffet breakfast and some last minute final packing. We all gathered in the lobby at about 8 and then we walked to the Topkapi Palace which is where the Ottoman Sultans and their families lived.

 

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We saw all the jewels they wore, the robes, swords and more things that we wanted to steal and take home. There they also had the 4^th largest diamond in the world, it was very shiny. There were great views on the balcony overlooking the whole city. The rooms were amazing in the detail the craftsmen put into their work.

After a couple hours we walked back to our hotel, loaded our bags onto the bus and headed for the Spice Market. We were only given 35 minutes but it was all we needed, by the time we came out we all had at least bought one thing. By then our bartering skills had become pretty good (or at least mine had). Reluctantly, we got on our bus and headed off for the airport. When we got there we said our emotional goodbyes to Bitsy, went through the international terminal and boarded our plane.

Six hours or so later we found ourselves landing in France and found the weather a tad cold (a few of us were wearing shorts).

We landed at Orly International Airport and it was there that we were greeted by our tour guide, Christopher, and our warm cozy bus. From there we travelled into the heart of Paris getting our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.

We ended up at a little restaurant in the middle of the city and had tea there. After some nice food and some laughs we left and came to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza. We then got our room keys and went straight off to our rooms to chill out and sleep, ready for another big day tomorrow.

P.S. our love for Bitsy was so strong that we all decided that we will petition to get her own statue in front of the MCG.

P.P.S. our first night without her and…… we have no Wi-Fi. We miss her already!

The intrepid Bitsy and Belinda, our master tour photographer