Paris day 3

Our last day!

The packing exercise again. We got it all in, and waited in trepidation for the weigh-in at the airport.

















After our last breakfast ( breakfasts have been a highlight of this trip!) we headed off to Galleries Lafayette. Lots of looking, but we were quite restrained in our purchasing....

25 degrees, and bright sunshine. Lunch on the Champs Elysees, with most of Paris, then a stroll along to the Arc de Triomphe. Being the day after Anzac Dy, there was a wreath from NZ at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and an enormous French flag was flying under the Arc. Amongst the names of various towns carved on the wall was Landshut - we couldn't figure out what they were there for, maybe the site of some battle in the past?

I made Lyn climb back up over Monmartre on the way back to the hotel (well, we did go up the gondola), so that we could go and have our crepes au chocolats at the Place du Tertres. Very delicious too!

I also made her detour to a bakery on the way down so that we could buy fruit tarts - we ate them stting in the park across the road from the hotel, then just had time for a last glass of wine in the cafe before our shuttle to the airport arrived.

No trouble with luggage weight, we just had to settle in and do the hours, and eventually there we were, walking out into Christchurch airport with Ben and Ella waiting with "Awesome" signs - so good to see everyone.

Truly an "Awesome" trip, to be remembered for a long time.

Paris day 2

A later start on our second day after our late night out.

Another sunny morning, and we walked up to the top of Montmartre and had a look at the art work in the Place du Tertre. We resisted having our portraits drawn, although Lyn was tempted!

Sacre Coeur was as lovely as ever, with its white domes shining against the sky.


We walked down the other side of the Butte, but the good chocolate crepe restaurant wasn't open. We had lunch at another cafe across the road - croque monseiur and pear tarte.

From there we walked on round to Abbesses, down the street with all the tourist shops where they were very pleased to see us...

Caught the train to the Eiffel Tower, as impressive as ever. Unfortunately the top platform was closed (although I wasn't too heartbroken - a bit high for me!), but we went up to level 2 and the views from there were magnificent enough.

As we were coming down I received a text from Meredith, saying she and Mum were in Paris, at the Eiffel tower, and where were we?
So we met then 10 minutes later at the bottom of the south leg - the world is a small place!



It was good to see them. We walked along the banks of the Seine together, had a coffee at a little Parisian cafe, and ended up at a little market by the river. We went our separate ways back to our hotels, having agreed to meet for dinner in the Latin Quarter later.













Surprisingly, we all ended up at the appointed Metro station at about the same time, and went and found ourselves a little French bistro where we had French onion soup, a variety of duck, veal, or pork, and then strawberry tart to finish - very good!

Paris day1

We have now been home for almost a week, and I have finally found time to sit down and put our Paris stories on the blog. I will also add a few photos of Alderney and the Forest, back in the previous blogs if I can, for those who are interested.

There are so many stories from Paris!

We were very sad to leave Freising. We had a wonderful time with Glen, Claudia and Timothy. Glen and Claudia made us so welcome, and went to so much trouble to take us to places, and give us a taste of Germany. For us, the very best part of it was just being with them, and getting to know wee Timothy.

We left Freising on Wednesday afternon, and arrived in Paris Orly in the early evening. The girl at Information assured me that the best way to get into the city was by train...5 trains, 4 changes with all our bags later, we were outside Lamark-Caulaincourt Metro station contemplating the steps we needed to climb to the hotel!











However, half an hour later we were fully recovered, sitting outside the cafe just below our hotel with a glass of wine, watching Paris go by - slender women with scarves, dark eyed young men with enormous motorbikes, and even one woman going into the cafe with her dog in her handbag!


Next morning we were up early, the first people at breakfast (coffee, rolls and croissants), and into the city.






























We started at Notre Dame, and enjoyed trailing through the enormous old cathedral with its fabulous stained glass windows. We visited quite a few churches and cathedrals on our trip, but I never cease to be amazed and impressed at the workmanship of the people who built them, without modern tools or technology.

From there we walked along the Isle de la Cite, through the flower market, and back across the river to the Louvre.


I knew that my legs wouldn't tolerate prolonged Louvring, and I suspect Lyn's would have been the same, so after admiring the building and agreeing that the Pyramides are somewhat out of place but adventurous architecture, we unashamedly just went and saw the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. One of the advantages of being there early in the spring was that there were hardly any tourists there, and we were able to go right up close and have a good look - you can actually see why they are considered great works of art, they are really beautiful, especially when you consider their ages.

The day was lovely and we walked back through the Tuileries gardens, buying ourselves a baguette and cheese and eating it on the grass with half the office workers of Paris.

By teatime it was drizzling a bit, and we caught the train back into the city and had dinner in a little cafe (not snails or frogs legs!) before joining our group for the evening. It was just about dark as we boarded one of the Bateaux Mouches, and the Eiffel tower was lashing with light behind us. We chugged slowly up the river, past various landmarks, with Notre Dame looking dramatic in the middle of the Seine in front of us. There was a group of young musicians playing trumpets and trombones on the banks of the river, teenagers drinking and smoking thinking they were out of sight, and dilapidated houseboats and barges - it was great.

We were taken by bus to the Moulin Rouge, driving through central Paris and around the mad roundabout of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Moulin Rouge is a great spectacle! We were packed in, 8 of us squashed round a tiny table, with our bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket. The show was very professional, good dancing, fabulous costumes, and the juggling and ventriloquist acts were very skilled and not too long! About half the dancers were topless, and the rest of the costumes were so minute that the rest may as well have been as well, but it was completely non-erotic and didn't either improve or detract from the show as far as I could tell. The can-can was lots of fun!

The bus wouldn't take us home afterwards, so Lyn and I ended up walking at 1.30am through the red light area of Paris. Rather surprisingly, we weren't propositioned by anybody!