A week to remember

Paris was amazing! We were staying in a little studio apartment (two thirds the size of our lounge) in the 7th arrondissement and so we were within walking distance of Les Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay etc, etc. We eventually managed to find it after asking in a couple of shops because all of the older houses are built with shops on the ground floor with a little door in the middle going to a small courtyard and access to the apartments.

The apartment was very handily sited for restaurants, food shops and patisseries so we didn't have far to go on the first evening to have a meal on Sue's birthday. We had tried to plan our time so as to make full use of the week, and we had found a company who give guided walks with english commentary. They run different walks morning and afternoon, everyday, and you just have to turn up at whichever Metro station and pay your money. The only problem was that I'd not taken the details of which Metro station! So, Sunday morning we walked around looking first for a Tourist office, and then for an Internet Cafe. The Tourist Office were no help, and these days there aren't internet Cafes, there's now just cafes which allow you to use your laptop by wireless telephony (WiFi).

HOWEVER, at Sue's suggestion, the problem was solved by going in to a Hotel and paying to use their internet facility. So, we were able to go on these walks; Sunday afternoon to see the Art Nouveau buildings of Paris, Monday morning the Isle de la Cite and Notre Dame, Monday afternoon for the Medieval Latin Quarter, Wednesday afternoon for Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur, and Thursday morning for the Left Bank. We certainly pounded the pavements!

As well as all this walking we did other 'touristy' things like looking in the posh department stores in Boulevard Haussman, visiting the Musee d'Orsay for the impressionist paintings (see photo below), the Musee Rodin for his sculptures, and looking at modern artists' work at an art fair on the banks of the Seine near Bastille.

One of the 'tourist' activities we didn't do was the Eiffel tower. Even at 10 pm there were still queues ( mainly Japanese) waiting to go up. So instead we went up the Montparnasse Tower instead. This is a tall office block with an elevator that takes you up to the 56th floor in 38 seconds. There is a 360 degree viewing floor at least on the same level as the Eiffel if not higher. We got there about 9 pm and then walked up the last 3 levels to the top ( where the helicopters land) and watched Paris gradually light up. All of the major 'sights' are lit and the Eiffel tower has a small display of flashing lights every hour.

Whilst we were in Paris it was the first round of voting for the next French President. We stumbled upon the headquarters of one of the main candidates by chance on the Sunday when we were looking for an internet cafe. Then, when we went back to our flat that afternoon we found out that the HQ of another of the main contenders was about one block from us. We had a little nose and then about 9 pm, when the preliminary results were coming out, we went and joined the rally. We even got asked for our opinion by a journalist, although when we explained who we were he quickly lost interest!

The other highlight to the week was a meal we had with a parisian couple in their own home. We had found out details of this on a website called 'Meeting the French' and the idea of having a meal in someone's home and having the chance to talk to them really appealed to us. We arrived at their appartment on the Tuesday evening and they were incredibly welcoming. They showed us round their home, offered us an apero and nibbles, provided a 4 course meal, and treated us just as if we were their friends. A truly memorable evening, including the adventure of finding, half way back to our flat, that the trains had shut down for the night ( but it was after midnight!). We set off walking as we knew that we had just to keep the river Seine on our right. The only problem was that Sue needed the toilet, and any suitable looking area of grass and bushes tended to have someone sleeping there. Fortunately, Sue finally managed to flag down a taxi, which was just as well as we realised that it would have taken us at least 2 hours to walk home. But even as we walked the last part of the journey up the road where our flat was, there were still people sat at tables outside of restauants at 1 am. Ah, the parisian life.