Paris

We arrived to Paris in the evening prior to the final stage of the tour, so we decided to head into town and grab something to eat. Our first impression of Paris is that there is lots of cafe's and restaurants. This is a place made for eating out. We ended up in the St Germain neighborhood and ate beef tartare. We also sampled frogs legs and snails in Paris.

 

Now it was Sunday, the final day of the tour, so our afternoon was set. However, we had a free morning so we took a leisurely stroll down the Seine to the Eiffel tower. The queue to climb to top was too long for us so we had a walk around the park to get a view of the tower. We then headed back to the Champ Élysées for the race stopping to see the Arc de Triumph on the way.

The next day was our first real sight seeing day. We succumbed to the hype and joined the queue to see the inside of the impressive Louvre. It was hard to enjoy the more famous pieces of art with the immense crowds but we did get to see the Venus de Milo and briefly glimpse the Mona Lisa.

We left the Louvre when our stomachs told us it as time and headed across the river. We picked up some paninis and macaroons and headed to the jardin de Luxembourg for lunch, an immaculate garden including a 17th century palace. This place was full of Parisians sun baking amongst the blooming flowers and budding artists using the beautiful surroundings as inspiration.

 

We then headed to Notre Dame to take in the impressive gothic cathedral. We were too late to climb the towers but we were able to sit in the cathedral and listen to some beautiful hymns. To counterbalance our godly experience we went to a cabaret show in the evening, lots of fun as long as boobies don't offend! The show consisted of singing, scantily clad girls and well muscled men dancing, elaborate sets, aerial acrobatics above our heads and a unicyclist.

 

On the next day we thought we would do a walking tour. We decided on a tour of the Latin quarter about the French revolution. This was morbid at times but really interesting. I am glad that the guillotine has been retired.

On our final day in Paris we took the train out to Versailles, the last home of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette before their heads came off, to get an idea of the opulence that the French population were revolting against. This was a grand indeed but like the Louvre the crowds were a bit much.

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