5 days in Paris

The Louvre
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I loved Paris! I couldn't believe I was actually there after wanting to go for so long, and spent the first of our 5 days there in a bit of a daze saying 'There's the Eiffel Tower!' and 'We're in the Louvre!'.

On our first day, it decided to rain (and didn't stop til we left) so we went to the Louvre. We didn't arrive until the late afternoon so we made a very quick tour of the gallery. I was very excited to see the Mona Lisa, although there was a crowd of about 60 people, barriers, a glass wall covering the artwork and 2 security guards to dodge first!

Richard decided that "hawker dodging" required so much skill and planning that it should become a recognised sport

Elena eating her divorce pastry under the Eiffel Tower
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We took advantage of some brief good weather on our second day and went on the Paris hop on/off bus tour. First we visited the Basilica de Sacre Coeur (passing the Moulin Rouge on the way). This had great views over the city, but there were so many quite aggressive hawkers to get past first, who would try to put a piece of string on your finger (for good luck or something) and then try and get some money from you. Richard decided that "hawker dodging" required so much skill and planning that it should become a recognised sport, and is currently looking into the legalities of registering it as such.

Richard on the Eiffel Tower
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Our next major stop was the Eiffel Tower. We stopped off at a patisserie and bought a picnic lunch (including a 'divorcé' each - sort of like a double profiterole, with one side chocolate and one side caramel... so good). Because of all the calories we'd just consumed, we decided to walk up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower... all 668 of them! Luckily for us, we beat the clouds rolling in and saw some amazing views over Paris. We also managed to see the Champs Elysees, Arc De Triomphe and too many other monuments to remember. I thought it was funny (not sure if that's the right word) that the Ministry of Defense building we saw had bullet holes in the walls from WWII!

One of the Versailles fountains
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On our third day, we explored the other side of Paris, including the Notre Dame and Latin Quarter. I really liked the Latin Quarter, there were good little restaurants and shops in very narrow, cobbled streets. We got a 3 course lunch for only 10 euro which was good! On this day, the new French president was being inaugurated (or something) just down the road at the Champs Elysees, so it was all over the TV. That night, we went to a caberet show at the Lido. We wanted to go to the Moulin Rouge but it was booked out. It was quite a performance with many dancers, lots of costume changes, as well as an ice skating rink and acrobats.

Eiffel Tower at night
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We visited the Versailles palace on our fourth day. Its being renovated so it wasn't that great on the outside compared to some of the Loire Valley chateaux, but the inside was amazing. We spent more time though in the gardens. There are hundreds of fountains, and they play classical music on weekends while the fountains are operating. I seriously think we walked about 6km just in the gardens. They were so pretty. That night, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up.

On our last day, the sun came out for a while so we got a boat cruise down the Seine. It was nice to see Paris from the river perspective. We also went for a walk down the Champs Elysees, did a bit of window shopping, and had a closer look at the Arc De Triomphe. Then we went to the Musee D'Orsay, another major art gallery in Paris with more contemporary artwork by Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Manet etc.

Passing the Notre Dame on the boat cruise
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There's so much to see in Paris I could have spent a lot longer there.