A big wave from the Team

A good spot to park

We left our chalet in the Loire Valley at Richelieu at 8.00 am on Sunday to attempt a photo shoot at the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.  Friends we had met at Richelieu a couple of days previously offered to guide the convoy into Paris and assist in the process.  After a three hour drive down the A10 we met Mona, an Irish ex pat, Parisienne of some thirty seven years, and her husband Rod at a service station about half an hour out of Paris. They had done a reconnoitre the day before and were confident we could achieve our photo shoot.  Driving a Peugeot, they led the convoy into Paris. 

We managed to park on the main drag on the Champs Elysee and take some photos whilst congratulating each other on making the Peking to Paris leg of our journey.  Mona was in phone contact with our friend Carmel from PEACE who had arranged to meet us in Paris. Victoria also from PEACE was there too complete with a great long lens camera. We then moved closer to the Arc de Triomphe, one of the busiest roundabouts in the world. Carmel poised under an orange umbrella to beat the intense sunshine, and Victoria were located opposite the Arc, a perfect sight for photographing. We manoeuvred our  cars around the Arc and parked in position. All of this illegal, I might add.

 Some in the convoy then jumped out of the cars and started taking photographs with Sue ambling across the road and through oncoming traffic, to greet Carmel. Carmel later said only a group of Aussies would do this and of course the Parisienne traffic slowed right down and took a good look at the unfolding circus. We parked beneath the Arc for about twenty minutes…..quite an achievement in mid afternoon Paris traffic and in a heatwave.

From there the challenge was to get some shots with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  Using Dave’s “when in doubt do it anyway attitude” we angle parked on the main thoroughfare with the Tower behind us.  We were lucky a tour bus was departing as we arrived and therefore a suitable space opened up.  We quickly parked on a 45 degree angle quite mindful we could be moved on at any moment.  This was the absolute prime photo shoot spot and certainly not a parking zone. 

The novelty of seven  MGs, including the Yorkshire man Vin’s, who had driven the Italy to Paris leg with us, parked in a no parking zone attracted a great deal of attention from passersby but not from parking officials so we decided to leave the cars and have a celebratory lunch at a nearby restaurant. 

Later we spent time talking to an “Aussie” on holiday who had heard about our trip back in Australia and who was amazed to meet up with the team in Paris given that we had been on the road for nearly three months.

After lunch Vin, who had come along for the ride from Italy, left us to head home to UK via Belgium.  The Yellow Car departed for a few days to track down the Tour de France, Red and Cherry Car stayed in Paris while the three other cars returned to Richelieu. Everybody pretty chuffed that we had made it into Paris for the photo shoot and with such ease

Unbelievable that we were able to park the cars, do a photo shoot which took the best part of an hour and then leave the cars parked for another hour while we had lunch. All of this completed without any permits and a lot of help from Mona and Rod.

We made it to Paris

Sue, Dave and Ken with Carmel and Victoria from PEACE

Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and Mr Jeremy Fisher rode in Red Car with PEACE and Teachers Across Borders decals on the car