Au Revoir

So sad to be saying goodbye to Paris, but more especially to France.

The suitcases seem to have shrunk, even though we haven't bought anything (except Allan has purchased a number of books about places we've been to).  We were grateful to have the use of Phil and Janet's room after we checked out, especially since we weren't required to check-in at the airport until 9.20 pm.

We were out in time for an early lunch before a loooong visit to the army museum at the Hotel des Invalides.  Lots and lots of armour, uniforms, guns, cannons and other weaponry.

It did begin to pall after a while for me, but the history of the world wars was more interesting, as were the sections on Charles de Gaulle and Napoleon.

We saw Napoleon's tomb as well as those of some other famous dudes in the Dome.

The Dome was pretty spectacular but a little gaudy with all the gold!

We had a final predinner drink with P & J, sitting outside in the boulevard. C'est la vie!

We took three trains from the hotel to the airport - quite straightforward even with the luggage.

Our Air France flight was delayed by 25 mins, but made good time.  It was the first flight we have been on that has been not so full, so we could spread out. We managed a few hours sleep each, but it's now midnight in Singapore, so need to sleep!  Very, very hot and sticky but great to catch up with family here.  Good night!

Four Kiwis and a boat

We had a lovely night out on our river boat dinner cruise, despite some minor commuting woes.  We could see our boat from the promenade, but the steps down were closed.  Fortunately we were able to communicate from afar with the crew using sign language, so they didn't sail off without us.

We had a table near the front and it was just lovely sailing as we ate nice food and drank nice wine, with good company!

The piece de resistance of course, was the twinkling of the lights on the Eiffel Tower as we sailed past on our return.  There was even dancing!

Amazing how many Parisians were picnicking along the river bank even at that hour of night.  Don't seem to be any rules about alcohol in public places, so they're all drinking wine, but we didn't see any drunk and disorderlies on our travels.

By the time we disembarked, the RER train had closed for the night, so the two derelicts sleeping in the subway told us, so we wandered a bit further to find another Metro station.

A fitting finale to our French fling. How's that for alliteration!

Off to Singapore tonight...a new experience for us both.

The beginning of the end

The weather has finally come right for the end of our French sojourn. It was 23 degrees and sunny for our visit to Montmartre and Sacre Couer.

It was a bit of a hike up the hill, but worth the effort for the views - I think we have seen the Eiffel Tower from every which direction now. The Sacre Couer was beautiful - so much more understated than most of the other cathedrals we have seen.

Sadly, photos were prohibited inside, so nothing to preserve the memories.  Nice day out though.  We followed a Frommer's recommended walking route which took us to another cute little church, a very, very old cemetery and the Moulin Rouge.

But wait there's more!  We saw not one but two film shoots.  The first was behind the cemetery and looked like a French CSI.  The poor actor playing the corpse had to play dead for a very long time!  I don't know what the other film was, but it was set outside the Moulin Rouge.  Something a bit different!

Off to dinner tonight on a boat cruising the River Seine - special treat for the end of this part of our holiday.

The beginning of the beginning of the end

I decided to get out a bit earlier than Sue this morning and headed down to the other end of the Champs-Élysées to have a closer look at the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde.  Something to look at on every corner on the way there and the way back...

Quelle horreur!

Today we had our biggest rip-off of our whole holiday.  We had lunch at a little bistro not far from the hotel.

We strolled down there to eat with Janet and Phil who had just flown in from Wellington.  We were looking for cheap and cheerful - it wasn't overly cheerful and it certainly wasn't cheap!

After our mains, the waiter arrived with a platter of sweets and we all succumbed to temptation.  Imagine our horror when the bill came and we were charged 8.50 euro each for a chocolate eclair or a Mille-feuille. That's about $13 - eek!  He obviously saw us coming.

To walk off the calories, Allan and I wandered along the Champs Élysées and climbed the Arc de Triomphe. It was great to soak up the atmosphere of the avenue.

I window-shopped at the Cartier shop - I saw a lovely necklace - a bargain at 39,500 euros, but Allan declined to buy it for me.  Can't think why!

[Allan: oops, that's not a photo of a necklace]

We rejoined Janet and Phil to head off to a one man show called 'How to become a Parisian in one hour'.  It was hilarious and the guy (a French comedian who spoke in English) was very clever. So good fun.

Dinner then home to bed.  One more day to go in Paris - shame!

The Louvre

We (and 20 gazillion others!) went to the Louvre today.  When we were here five years ago, our visit was very rushed due to an electrical fire which had knocked out some of the access points, necessitating a long walk to get in, and to an obnoxious local guide who was somewhat Hitlerish, so we were looking forward to ambling our own way around.

So many people, especially in the areas leading to the Mona Lisa.  Must be so much money tied up in the art here.

We split up, agreeing to meet back at the hotel.  Allan was a bit dubious about leaving me to negotiate the Metro alone but we wouldn't have had a hope of keeping track of each other amongst the masses.

As it happened, I was fine with the Metro, but it took me half an hour of walking around in circles to find the station!  I loved the sculptures especially.

It was very warm inside - they don't seem to temperature control the environment to protect the art as they do in the British Museums.

My complaint, if I had one, would be about the maps they give you, and the general 'traffic' flow.  I'd be the first to admit that I am a bit of a girl (sexist I know, but true) when it comes to reading maps, but I struggled to figure out where I was, let alone how to get to where I wanted to go!  Gave up in the end and just followed my nose.  The tourist attractions I like best are those which have a defined route so you can a) see everything logically and b) so everyone is going the same direction.  At the Louvre, there are side alleys with different exits, there are dead ends so you have two way traffic, so it's easy to miss things, and you end up with a melee of people.

Anyway, all good.  I finished first and checked out the underground Carousel shopping centre.  Very elite shops with the most beautiful window displays, but window shopping was all I did.

Allan went on to the Pompadou Centre which he enjoyed.  [Allan: the building at least as fascinating as the art!]

We found a more 'quality' restaurant to eat at last night.  It was done out with upright canons used for up lighting, and the lights were a set of three cannonballs strung together with a chain.  Pretty cool!  Food was good too!

A Tsunami in Paris...

Did this make the headlines in NZ?!  I slipped getting out of the bath last night, and the water went everywhere - all over the floor, up the walls, everywhere!  Got a couple of bruises to show for it too!

All good this morning though and ready for our visit to the Ile de Cite, in the middle of the Seine River.  We visited St Chapelle and the associated Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before her execution.

Also saw Notre Dame which was crowded and grew more so as the day went on.

It was very grand and I am not sure if I am a little jaded for cathedrals but it would probably come third on my list for wow factor, after the Bayeux Cathedral and the Notre Dame in Rouen.  Allan took a tour up the ND tower - he was gone for 1 hr 45 mins and I was beginning to fret that I had got our meeting place wrong.  They have tiered seating where you can sit and gaze at the cathedral, and since it was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, I enjoyed sitting there soaking up the sun.

We used the Metro trains to get there - easy enough to follow once we sussed the best ticket option for our stay.

Back to the hotel for a short rest before we strolled off to the Eiffel Tower.  Figured today was the best weather option to go to the top - so did the rest of Paris! (even though it was 6 pm when we went).  Unfortunately the top levels were closed temporarily,  with not a lot of communication to say why, or for how long.  Decided not to wait at the second level as we had queued for an hour at the start, and the backlog (if they had reopened) would've been at least a couple of hours.  Glorious views in any case.

We stayed out for dinner - standards have slipped and costs have risen now we are in the big city.  We've noticed an interesting trend at restaurants with outside dining - they arrange the chairs grandstand style so everyone looks out.  So you sit beside your partner, instead of opposite. Same even if there are four of you - you're in a line.  Works though, because it is fun to watch the world go by.

Nous sommes en Paris ...

Our roaming days are over, we're now settled in our gorgeous hotel in Paris.

The journey into the city was a a little stress-making - the motorways are scary!  Our GPS, being an older model, doesn't give much guidance as to which lane to take and when there are five to choose from, and all of them are full, it's a bit daunting!

Then there was the problem of finding the Hertz depot.  A helpful local helped us out with that, and then we just had to find our hotel transfer shuttle.  Only three terminals to choose from and only six sub terminals to choose from in Terminal 2 where we ended up!

After wandering around for the best part of an hour, we rang and the kind man who had been waiting for us at Terminal 1 came and picked us up from Terminal 2E, Exit 7.  What I would define as another minor drama!

We called in at the Palace of Versailles this morning, just to look at the gardens, as we had seen the palace last time we were here.  It was pretty, but not amazing.

[Allan: the fee to get into the gardens was a little on the high side considering the fountains were not operating.  The music was good though, and I think that was the excuse for the fee.  The gardens and park are HUGE, and you can imagine the king and his mates strolling through them, a new view around every corner.]

Busy planning now as to how we will fill our five days in Paris - bring it on!