Paris

Hi All

Well we arrived in Paris our first impressions were 'this is a beautiful city'. To get to our hotel the driver drove down the Avenue Des Champs Elysees- a wide, tree lined, expensive shop(every expensive brand you have ever heard of and of course millions that we hadn't)filled avenue it was grand.

Avenue Champs Elysees with the Louve at the very bottom of the picture and if you look very closely before that if you look closely you can see a monument called the Concorde.

Our hotel is a quaint little hotel in the middle of the Latin Quarter, an ideal position to access all the sites of Paris. This was a massive step up from the tumble down accommodation that we had in Athens. I forgot to tell you that we had to change rooms in Athens after another night of no sleep due to the demonstrations till early hours of the morning, the airconditioning not working in 200 degree heat and the final straw was when I got locked in the bathroom as the handle broke on the inside lucky Mez was there to save the day. Below is the view from the room down the street. I am so impressed with the neatness of this city they don't have awnings everywhere looking untidy and the architecture of the buildings is very Parisian.

Well we are sitting here very weary from being very good tourists in Paris. You lot think its tough being at work but let me tell you being a tourist is hard work. We have walked and walked and walked for three days, up so many stairs I wish I had worn a pedometer just to tell you how many, this is the land of steps. Mez even woke up this morning and was feeling exhausted just contemplating the day ahead. I think our jeans are going to run out the door if we put them on for one more day at least I only wore my for two of the three days not like Mez. 

It has been raining off and on here but that has not daunted us travellers. We took a river boat ferry on the Seine on Tuesday in the pouring rain and were of course the only ones standing outside in the rain frightened to miss anything. We still are getting lost a lot, when walking, but we have mastered the Paris transport system getting on and off Metros and RER's (fast trains)-fabulous transport system a shame we don't have one similar.

                     Me trying to battle the wind and rain with the umbrellas that we bought( that is another story) with the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral in the background.

Day 2 headed to the Palace of Versailles, our first tourist attraction on our list to visit. We arrived to be confronted with thousands of people queuing up but as stoic tourists we joined the line and waited our turn. What opulence, you just can't imagine the wealth and imagination that the French had in the 17th century.

On the way back in the train I was playing with my camera when I dropped the memory card on the floor. It just disappeared - picture this - a grown women grovelling on the dirty floor, in a white shirt, searching for the card. I even had most of the carriage looking as well, even though they could't speak english, we managed to tell them what we were doing just in case they thought we were completely mad. It just disappeared when I was about to give up I thought of what Mum used to always say. Say a prayer to Saint Thomas( think I have the right saint) when you lose something and it will help. Well I did and I found it caught in a crevice. 

Next stop the Eiffel Tower. Had a quick look from the ground up and moved on.- very impressive structure.

                    Had to show you all this photo of the harbour bridge look alike with the eiffel tower in back ground and of course the weather that us terry tourists were coping with. Don't you feel sorry for us, I bet you do.

We then trekked to the Arc De Triomphe up the Champs Elysees, and I can now understand when Eli said that they were driving in this massive roundabout and there were no lanes as such you just find a space for your car.
Standing in line again and then came the steps 284 in a tight spiral on the way up and down. A very impressive view from the top.

                In the stair well of the Arc De Triomphe. If we have put on any weight in Paris something is going terribly wrong and we haven't even gone near the famous French pastries but have taken a pic - below.

       The view from the top of the Arc De Triomphe. Wanted to show you how symmetrical this famous city of Paris is- very impressive.

                                                          They are a work of art.

Thought I was heading for home when Mez wanted to see one more place to get one more pic.  So we mastered the metro again and walked and walked again and the resulting picture is below.

                                                           The top and most impressive part is missing - think we need to take a photography course or two when we get home.

Good day. Day 3 ....... to be continued - time for dinner.