Friday 22nd Feb : Arrived in Paris

First glimpse of the Eiffel Tower
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The flight was fine. Arrived Paris 6am. We had been thinking we might have problems as I don’t have a French visa. We weren’t sure how we could prove that we weren’t going to be in France for more than 90 days. But they hardly seemed interested at all. No customs issues either. Bus from Charles de Gaulle to Champs Elysee. Our stop was right next to the Arc de Triomph. We decided to walk with our luggage to 146 Rue de L’Universitie in Arrondissment 7. Probably about 2 kms. Mum and Dad were loving it. Enjoying the sights, checking out the French people and signs. The kids were not. Although we had pulled out warm gear in readiness for the cold weather, they didn’t all have gloves and beanies. And it was rather chilly. We had some very grumpy kids. (After 13 hours on the plane it wasn’t very surprising really) Especially Kate and Isaac.

One of the many beautiful bridges.
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Isaac mostly sulked and dawdled and halfway there Kate said, “You are trying to kill us aren’t you?”

Tess didn’t say much and Michael was an absolute Trojan. But then again, he was the one with both a beanie and gloves.

We came to the bottom of a street and there, looming to the right was the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing. Even the grumpy kids were impressed. We crossed the Pont D’Alma and headed for our apartment. We let ourselves in only to discover that the previous tenants were still there. Ooops. We forgot that check in was at 12 noon. They left at 9.30 and we stayed there until the cleaner arrived. We went out but had to return because Tess felt sick. Poor chicken. The guy let us back in and I stayed with her while Andrew went out with the others to have a look at Paris.

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They found their way to Le Grande Palais and Petite Palais just around the corner. Very impressive. Isaac loved one of the Monet paintings there. We all had a sleep in the afternoon. 2 hours awake, then slept through night.

It was great to have the apartment there. It was very central and we could crash and have a meal at 'home' and spread out. We had to press a code and go through massive doors into a private cobbled courtyard and then get into our very classy apartment. High ceilings, antiques, tapestry, washing machine and complimentary bottle of wine. The wine was pretty good - Andrew saw it for sale at the supermarket two days later for about AUS $2. Perhaps we are easily pleased but we did hear that while much of the world exports the best of their produce, the French keep the best for themselves… especially the wine.