Paris - Art, Culture and wonderful food.

Siene River
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Feeling the heavy jet lag of a 12 hour flight to Incheon, Korea and couple days stay and then moving onto another 12 hour flight to Paris, France.

I remember catching the train alone from Charles De Gaulle International Airport to Gard du Nord Station, heavily equipt with luggage, as the station was large and I was travelling alone my first rememberance was panic when I arrived, so many exits from the station trying to locate where my brother was. I asked information from the Jean Dames who were walking around clutching their large machine guns in arms with their military camouflaged uniforms and berets, unfortunately their english was just about as good as my french, but I was pleasantly surprised with them escorting me and carrying my luggage out to the main entrance/exit to the station.

Suburban Paris
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After finally locating my brother we caught the taxi to our hotel in Republique, cleaned up and went for a walk along the streets of Paris, into a quaint traditional french restaurant, France has the unbelivable ability to present itself very professionally and takes pride in their hospitiality and customer service when it comes to food which they do exceedingly well.  L'escargo was on the menu for the evening, first time I had ever had snails, although at first they didn't look appetising, the flavours and taste were wonderful, garlic and herb, blue cheese, curried and battered snails.

Fountain in the Park
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Never was I let down once with the quality and taste of the food and wines, cheeses, deserts and service. It is always polite to try and speak french even if you only know a few words, but it shows acceptance of their culture and they are much nicer if you at least try and they will carry on the conversation in english if they can once they realise your a foreigner. After dinner we went for a walk around the streets of Paris, observing the culture, and back to the hotel to rest up for a long day ahead of tourist destinations.

Musee Rodin - Thinking Man- famous sculpture
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*Norte Dame, Louvre, Arc De Triomphe, walking along the Siene River, Eiffle Tower, Napoleon's Tomb, Musee Rodin, the shopping districts and exploring the boutiques, artists along the banks of the Siene and painters near the park and fountain between the Louvre and Arc De Triomphe - everywhere in Paris is easily accesible on the Metro or in walking distance and easy to navigate around. Nothing better than hiring a bike and riding throughout the city exploring it.

The Louvre
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A truly beautiful city, so much history, culture and art. One song that will always remind me of the city - Dalida 'Les temps des fleurs".