Thanks so much for the kind words M (not using your full name for privacy)
As ever it was a pleasure to spend the time together and yes, the only thing I regret was that we didn`t have more time as there are so many other stories and insights waiting to be told I`m actually considering in the future offering an extended tour with a morning and afternoon period with a break for lunch for anyone who want`s to delve as deep as possible in a single day allowing us to visit more areas of the City than is possible in 3-4 hrs?
What`s really funny for me though and made me laugh is all 4 of you who were on the tour on Saturday and kindly left reviews have commented on all the books , folders and info I brought with me?
I actually though only brought about HALF of the material I would usually bring and actually brought on the last tour i had done back In August!
For a good reason of course that you know about of course
You know I was also a little nervous and stressed about how I`d manage as it was the first tour I`d been able to run in 5 weeks after a catastrophic August and September but you were the perfect guests to have for my first tour back !
There has been no way of me letting people who come to my Viator or Trip advisor listing what was going on over the last 2 months of course so it has been incredibly frustrating, there isn`t any way I can leave a notice explaining so I hope you don`t mind me using your review just to explain below?
I was only able to start work again this weekend past after I suffered a Herniated disc in August that required urgent surgery and at least 3 weeks rest after
But then after 6 days in hospital following the surgery which apparently was the largest herniation the Surgeon had ever removed after returning home 5 days later I re-herniated the SAME disc in a different place which is incredibly rare, I mean INCREDIBLY rare less than a week after surgery especially as such a large part had already been removed !
I then had to have priority surgery within a few days , but even more urgent than the first time because of the potential permanent damage to my right leg which was numb in parts and I couldn`t even lift my toes of foot off the floor !
Only being 2 weeks after the first surgery opening me up again right next to the first site made the situation far more delicate and as the first surgery hadn`t fully healed and after you feel like you`ve been shot in the back for a week your so stiff and sore
So i was pretty stressed
Fortunately the surgery went about as well as it could and after another 6 days in hospital I was allowed home with express orders to be extremely cautious as the next step is plates and screws in my spine
So I`ve been wearing my support belt ,seeing the nurse daily, banned from getting in a car for 3-4 weeks, absolutely NO bending from the back or sitting on low seats and all dynamic movements out of the question for several months
However getting up and walking as much as i can manage was recommended from the beginning so over the last 2-3 weeks I`ve been carefully monitoring my progress as I increased the distances I walked daily , pain free and my leg regained its strength and movement slowly , being careful not to over do things
it`s difficult because there really is no way of knowing until I actually went out and did a tour again how I would feel , I knew i could easily walk the distance required but and wasn`t in pain but your just scared of doing something dumb and forgetting and instinctively bending over to pick something up etc
Of course If I waited 3 months sure , I`d know I would be ok but I have been desperate to get back to work and just can`t afford to lay at home for months being self employed!
So Saturday was a big day for me and I`m delighted to say it went well, better than I hoped in fact, I was careful with how many books I brought of course and nit to bend over but the walking , standing, no problems, it was great to be back out there with such great people so thank you all so much for your encouragement, kindness, understanding and genuine desire to learn
What has been the worse part for me the last 6 weeks is literally lying in a hospital bed having to cancel or reject tour after tour I had booked for this period and at short notice
I wrote to everyone personally as well, I believe in communicating directly and explaining the situation because otherwise people just get a very impersonal cancellation email automatically sent via viator which of course could in no way explain the situation I was in and why I was forced to cancel
I could only manage to write for an hour a day so i had to work my way through all these late cancellations day by day because it was so depressing and frustrating to have to write the same story over and over again
So folks, that`s why I suddenly disappeared for about 6 weeks during my busiest time of the year of course!
Anyway, I`m back now, steadily and slowly staring again I may have had to alter my schedule slightly as I want to make sure my first couple of weeks back I get enough rest between tours so as to ensure that the quality of them does not slip but stays just as high as before all the way through and I don`t overdo things even If i feel fine
But Iv'e done tours both Saturday and Sunday, had a great time, have a few days rest now this week and then I`m really looking forward to welcoming new guests over the next couple of weeks as things get even better and back to normal and as I constantly think of ways to make my tours even better for you all
I`m sorry about this long message M ,crashing my reply to thank you for your review but It`s the only way I could find to get the message out to inform people about what had been going on and why I`d had to cancel so many tours
I Hope to see you again in Paris soon and have a great continuation of your travels
Thanks !
Chris