A gargoyles view of Paris from Notre Dame then Monsieur Eiffels famous creation..

Notre Dame and Ile de la Cite from the rear
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There is too much in this city to waste time laying in..

I was up and having a baguette breakfast at 9.30 in the morning. I chose a boulongerie just off Republique on the edge of La Marais.I've deliberately picked a section of Paris that is not in the middle of the tourist world. Le Marais is very workaday and becoming gentrified. Most of it is medieval or at least 16th Century and is a maze of narrow cobbled streets. For most of the century it was a low rent area allowing artists and artisans to flourish. Now, in the nineties, its becoming 'gentrified' and the new hip area. But luckily the old textile and 'rag trade' still survive in La Marais and it was with these crowds of those going to work that I merged into this morning.

His conquests are carved into the walls (I noticed Waterloo and Trafalgar were absent) and the whole thing came across as a massive monument to ego.

Ile St Louis from Le Marais
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I headed south down Rue de Temple to try and find Place des Vosges. I failed, and eventually emerged at Place Greve again Paris' City Hall - Hotel de Ville. Beyond that is the Seine and Ile de la Cite. The white apartment blocks look on to the river in some of the most expensive real estate in the world. You must almost be an exiled Prince or Asian potentate to acquire property on the Ile. I went first to Ile St Louis which has a whiff of exclusivity. At its western edge where it nearly touches the Ile de la Cite are superb views of Notre Dame across the water. Those flying buttresses and gothic lines looked amazing from the east. The front facade is the best part with those statues of French kings gazing back. Inside is very dark and tourists are herded around on a path, they seem eager to get you in and out. The ceiling was rather dull (bettered by some English provincial cathedrals - abit of patriotism there from me) but the stained glass was awesome. Throwing multi-coloured light onto the floor.

I took a trip up to the famous belltower and had a gargoyle inspired view of the city then down to a sight that had been recommended to me as the most peaceful place in central Paris. Across the flower and pet market on Place Letuece, and past the blood-soaked Concierge, is Place Dauphin. A lovely gravel square surrounded by townhouses. But if you head west to the very tip of Ile de la Cite the island reaches a tiny apex. There is a garden with weeping willows dangling in the Seine called Place du Vert Galant (Square of the Green Knight) and here you can sit on a bench and watch the bataou mouches glide past on a slow moving river.

Then south to St Michel and take the RER to the greatest Parisian tourist sight/cliche of them all and a trip to the 7th aronidessment. The Tour Eiffel is reviewed separately but did actually beat expectation. But nearby was a sight I had wanted to see for a long while - Les Invalides. Site of Napoleons tomb this 17th century beautiful building had a gold embossed dome that could be seen all over Paris. This was an old soldiers home built by Louis XIV with the mission to impress everyone with the feel of French military might. Very formal starched gardens lead up to the marble entrance and 40F and inside is hushed cold marble. A painted dome is above with the marble tomb of the "Corsican corporal" below. A red porphry saicophagus surrounded by reliefs of his famous battles. Its French military pretension par excellence.

His conquests are carved into the walls (I noticed Waterloo and Trafalgar were absent) and the whole thing came across as a massive monument to ego. But at the same time utterly fascinating at how France worshipped this man. The other courtyards of Les Invalides housed a military museum. Suits of armour stood side by side like cybermen, and there were displays on the Nazi occupation of Paris and the efforts of the resistance.

Afterwards, it was late in the afternoon and I wandered down to the river and the gold encrusted statues of Pont Alexandre III. I looked back at Les Invalides with its gold dome and formal regimented garden and let out a sigh..

Why? Why dont they make cities like this anymore?