Paris

Posted on: September 09, 2009 at 10:55AM

We just returned from Paris and the Segway tour was the highlight of our trip, providing us with a good orientation to the city and many of it's major sites. We booked the night tour, starting at 1830, so we could settle in to the hotel for a few hours. We met the tour guide at the south leg of the tower. After walking a bit to the office to fill out some papers, we found out we were the only people on the tour - everyone else had cancelled earlier in the day due to rain. So, we haad a private tour. For us, the segway was easy to operate, although sudden stops were a little hard for me to master. I did much better on gradual stops. The machine is controlled almost entirely by shifting your weight. There were several locations along the way where we "parked" the segways and sat down while the tour guide talked. I have to say that there is no way I could have walked the distance we covered in this tour - bad knees. This tour allowed me to get out to see the city more than a bus would, and we could stop whereever we wanted to take photos (off the segway of course). The guide, John Paul, was also very responsible in acting as a road guard to stop oncoming traffic, and was very careful crossing streets. One note - you do not go into any of the sites. My husband enjoyed the trip so much, he's talking of doing the tour again if we ever go back, and even doing the tour here in our home town (Wash DC). We had a blast. Adiditionally, we were able to go up the Eiffel Tower after the tour, and at 2200 there was only a very short line. We may have waited a total of 10 min. before getting on the elevator - ticket line included. So, I highly recommend this tour for an overall orientation to the city, and as an alternative to a bus tour for those with some limited mobility but who are able to stand. report a problem