Versailles in the Sky

Oh crap. Its pouring. We don't have far to walk, but it is uphill, with luggage. And it is a really really shitty day here in Paris. I wish I hadn't given Michael all the horror stories about driving in Paris because then I might feel like I can phone him and ask him to come via here. But I can't. So here I sit trying to work out which railway station en-route we can get a cab to, that is not too far to travel, and yet allows us to get in and out under cover more or less. Looks like Issy might do it.

Oh joy of joys - the rain stopped! And in time for me to stop panicing! We loaded all our luggfage - mind you Helen had to sit on her suitcase so that she could shut it with her pillow in! Hels takes some photos of the apartment - I think that it has given her some ideas for home! Then we are off out the door. As we push the button for the lift, it arrives on the 7th floor with the next tenant for Isabelle's Marie Antoinette Apartment. Carla from the US is here for just over a week. We have a quick chat and give her a few snippets of information before heading downstairs.

And finally we are away. It has been an amazing four days and I am so blessed to have been able to share them with Helen - this is something we will always be able to chuckle over.

We walk (OK Hels, we crawl) up Quai de Grenelle to the RER station, clunk our suitcases down a flight of stairs, easily buy tickets to Versailles Rive Gauche Station and then wrestle our luggage through the two tiered turnstile system they have in place here. The train we want is the second one due, so we have enough time to catch our breaths and prepare to get ourselves and the luggage up the two steepish steps on to the train. Funnily, the Australian Embassy is across the road and I find it kinda cool that in the same view, I can get a photo of the Eiffel Tower and the Embassy with a huge banner advertising Australia!

Versailles is not very far from where we are. It only takes about 25 minutes on the train to get there. Michael is meeting us here after driving down from Albert where he has spent the last four days. I'm a little worried for him as he hates driving in cities at the best of time and Paris is probably the worst city in the world for drivers. Mind you, he won't be driving in to the centre of Paris, heaven forbid - even I wouldn't do that! He will follow the Peripherique (the Ring Road) around the outside of Paris to get to Dijon in the south west edge of the city.
Luckily, Michael was able to get a mobile the other day and so once we have reached Versailles and can identify that Starbucks is a really visible place and so might be somewhere that Micael can find, I phone him. Poor thing, he is in heavy traffic and won't be here for some time yet. We order breakfast but poor Hels has yet to find the right coffee and doesn't enjoy the one she has. Me, I'm just happy to be sitting and eating. I am kinda anxious and keep looking out for Michael. Of course, Helen hasn't even seen the car yet so she doesn't even know what we are looking for! Finally, I see him driving by!! O thank god!

Thankfully Frances has trasferred her cover to Michael today and he finds a spot very close to us in the nearby car park. He comes over - gosh its good to see him. Four days ain't long, but ... Of course more than ayone, he needs a coffee! So we sit a little longer while he has coffee and donut. Then its up on the sticks and off we go. Of course Michael takes 90% of the luggage which makes the walking oh so much easier! And hello car - oooh you are nice! I have missed you more than I thought.

VERSAILLES
Very
Enormous
Rive Gaudy (Gauche)
Superfluous
A lot of Gold
International tourist central
Ludicrously loud
Long
Extravagant and Excess
Stormy.

Versailles, Versailles you are so high
You make me scream inside
I hate the way you look so smug
Your gilded face caught us by surprise
When the heavens opened up
And down poured the skies! (contributed by Helen!)

Ah, Versailles! After a couple of big days walking in Paris, I knew that there was going to be no way that I could walk around the behemoth that is the Palace of Versailles. So I opted to stay in the car and have a yiayia (nana) nap! Michael and Helen therefore set off to explore the Palace. Even though I have not see it myself, I know what to expect and I wanted Helen to see one end of the spectrum so she can better appreciate the less grand palaces and castles we will see.

Maria has been bugging me to do a paragraph on Versailles so here it is.

I had heard a lot about the vastness of this palace from Maria and she was determined that I view it for myself. Having lived in Queensland all my life, there was not much that I had in my little head of experiences that I could compare it to as yet. Well??? It was big, real big, really, really, big! It was a series of buildings bound together with a never-ending rope of guilded wrought iron fencing, interspersed with monumental gates. It stood above your eyeline, so when you approached it, I assume you would have gasped at it's greatness. Not me. It seemed filled with people. Touristy people armed to the hilt with cameras and maps.

To be honest, I didn't really concentrate too much on it as I negotiated the dreaded cobblestones at my feet. We faithfully lined up for tickets like the rest of the throngs of voyeurs from all over the world. We waited and waited for tickets to view the likes of the chambers of Louis 16th and Marie Antionette, but we were informed that the next tour was hours away."Stuff that !" Michael and I both said in unison. We turned out of the ticket office and had a wander around.

Why was I not impressed? Why did these buildings of such historical importance, not bring me to my emotional knees? I mean, this was were the Treaty of Versaille was signed at the end of the second world war. Having said that, it wasn't until Michael sugggested that there was more to see in the backyard that I perked up a bit. Yep, what a big backyard this place has. It was filled with delightful ordered gardens and so many statues both modern and ancient, that one really didn't know where to look. There were indeed lots of the pretty manicured topiary and symmetrical gardens that Maria would have yelped with delight at.

I just saw the bloody big storm building, down the end of the huge runway like lakes at the furtherest edge of this property. My goodness! What a storm... You could see it advancing like a row of cranky prawns on a massive chess board. I anxiously reminded Michael that there was indeed some wet weather on the way. But he was a man on a mission. He had Maria's camera and he wasn't afraid to use it. My battery had run out so I was bored and over it.

The gardens were divine, the flowers showing their last sets of summer floral dresses. I tried to be inhe moment and remind myself of where I was. In VERSAILLES! but storms beat palaces any day!

Eventually, as the heavens opened up and I realised that there was at least 500 meters between us and the buildings, I tried very unsucessfully to share the south end of a topiary with another bedraggled and sopping tourist. Michael joined us, but there was no room in the inn!

We gave into Mother Nature and abandoned the saturated tree and ran quickly towards the palace as it thundered all around us and I think, some lightning was very close by. We raced up the steps, past the non working fountains and into the tunnel that separated the front from the backyard, then over those dreaded cobblestones and across the eddies of running riverlets that said storm had created. It was windy now and my jeans were glued to my backside from the rain. Now those Africans were selling umbrellas not Tour Eiffel statues at the front gates. Never let an opportunity we wasted in the name of a sale. My umbrella was in my bag in the car! Ugghh We eventually made it back to the car. I got changed between the shelter of two open doors and sat down. It was a grand spectacle in Versaille afterall! "Good", I said. One palace down, another 90 to go! NOT!

OMG it was actually quite funny watching Michael and Helen arrive back at the car. I looked up and there they were, sopping wet, bedraggled and looking positively defeated. And it was OK that Hel's jeans clung to her ass, because no matter what she says, it is quite shapely! Out came the towels, and while Michael went to pay the parking fee, Helen managed to get into some dry clothes - amazing how we lose our self consciousness when we really need to - I mean she was between the two opened car doors, shielded by the car parked next to us!

And so we head off. The rain is quite persistent, but the worst of the storm has been vented. As usual, I have programmed Kate to lead us away from the motorways. Its not too long before we're back in rural France - after about an hours travel we see a tourist sign for one of those amazing covered bridges and so there I go again, ignoring Kate and setting off down a road of exploration while she patiently and persistently tells me "in 100 m turn right" or "turn around when it is possible" - I have learned to just tune her out when I want to!!!

Eventually we end up in the town of Milly La Forêt without having seen the bridge, or any more signs to it. As we come in to the town and follow the road into the centre, I realise that it was not a covered bridge, but the Covered Market Place. These are amazing (this is not the first one we haved seen) - they are where once upon a time all the traders came together under shelter to offer their wares for sale. Some, but not many are still in use today for this purpose. I got the feeling that this was not one of them.

Luckily, this road takes us past Fontainbleau - another of the French royal estates. Although grand in its own scale, it is nowhere near as gaudy as Versailles. Happy to see it just from the outside, we linger for some photos from the car before we push on. After all, we still have 2.5 hours of travel to reach Dijon.

Its a joy to be travelling with Helen as there is again a sense of wonder and awe. I guess that with all the travel we have managed to cram into the last eight months, we have become a little blasé and now, we are getting our second wind and again starting to really appreciate the beauty of places new! The country is open with farmed lands being framed by forests and wooded areas. It looks cared for and used well. Intersperced with small villages and towns, aloof, once isolated country estates, often hidden behind high walls continue to amaze us with their size and dominance over the surrounding areas.

Helen was amazed that it was village after village after village, all so alike, and yet each unique with their own sense of style. Village houses are set right on the edge of the streets - ha ha, she comments about the "masterful manipluations of the driver's wheel around tight streets" - if only she knew what close really was! The colourfulness of the flower boxes not only on the houses, but on all the public infrastructure - lightposts, bridge railings etc. The homes appear to turn their shoulders to the streets, indifferent to the traffic that passes by on its way somewhere else. Before we reach our destination we pass through more than 50 and Helen tires of taking photos - you know, lots of those O Wow moments - and yet she continues, time and time again.

Finally we get into Dijon. Now, I made a fatal error - and the for the first time, have written down the address and phone number of the hotel where we are staying. All we can remember is that it was Hotel des Ducs, and I think it is near the railway station (turns out that was wrong - it was another one we were looking at). So I follow the signs for the Railway Station hopeing we will see a sign post to it. We are in new Dijon and are collectively unimpressed with what simply is another modern working city - almost without soul.

After driving around for a quarter of an hour or so, we pull up near one of the police stations and Michael is off - in search of directions. Hah, its the Police Headquarters and they close at 5 pm - its now pushing for 7 pm! Eventually, he finds a phone directory in a bar and we have a street name. And wouldn't you know it - Kate can't find it. Back he goes and gets the phone number. Eventually we phone the hotel - thankfully the receptionist speaks great English (it was such a blessing Latifa). She confidently gives us detailed directions complete with landmarks. At this point Helen comes up with the bright idea of asking Kate to find the street, not according to the fastest route, but rather by the most direct route - and golly gosh, there she has it! Its amazing that such a tiny choice can make such a huge difference - and I am glad that I have a truly lateral thinker in the car! She suggests that the police station might have a communications block in place - guess we will never know!

Ahh - this is more like it - we have reached the old town and Helen is absolutely agog! As we get close, the police have streets cordoned off - turns out there is a huge party in town tonight. Some famous European DJ is in and the whole town is out for a good time - pity the poor tourist trying to get to their hotel! A quick word with the Gendarme guarding the railing put up across the street though and we are through (the car park is literally just on the other side of the fence!) And getting in to the car park under the hotel was a whole other story - we just won't go there!!!)

We are tired and a little cranky. Latifa is wonderful, welcoming and calm and soothing. And pleasant and genuinely pleased when we ask for her recommendation for dinner. She suggests a local restaurant 'Les Clos des Capucines' that serves regional food, so unpacked, loo'ed we head off. Turns out it is just a block away and around the corner.

I was so glad in a way that we had cafe'd it in Paris. Now Helen is getting some of that great regional cuisine that we have been going on and on and on about. Interestingly, they are not busy - what with the concert on! Dinner tonight is an amazing affair - there are a couple of set menus and we all decide to choose from them. So here are our choices - it is a pity that blogspot does not have smell-a-vision or taste-a-vision. Words are not enough to describe the deliciousness of the meal - the creaminess, the richness, the cleanness of the tastes and the combinations of those tastes offered to us. Poor you!

We begin with an apperitif - Pastis 51 (which Helen doesn't like and so she then gets a Kir Royale, leaving me to drink two!) and poor Michael with Mineral Water. Out comes an appetiser - a doublet of salmon - one small rectangular cube of meat with a creamy mayonnaise and a tiny aspic covered vegetable and salmon set mousse. Oh god, have we died and landed in French heaven????

Entrees next - Michael has Terrine de foie gras maison et sa brioche (Terrine of foie gras and brioche) and Helen and I each have Paris-brest de St Jacques sauce époisses (Scallops)

Mains were: Helen - Tulipe d'homard et gambas girolle á la fleur d'hibiscus (Lobster and prawns) while Michael chose the Emincé de Lotte au cumin et crevettes sauce truffe (Sliced Monkfish with Cumin Shrimp and Truffle Sauce) and I had Caille et grenoille cuite à la graisse et sa figue (Quail and frog cooked in fat and fig - OMG have just transalted and realised I had frogs legs!!!!)

This was followed by cheese (as you do in France) with Michael and I enjoying Ronde de fromages - a selection of three morsels, a goats cheese, a reblochon and a mature camembert while Helen had Fromage Blanc - a cultured cheese with a soured cream. They bought salt and pepper and sugar for her to add should she want - either savoury or sweet - she opted for neither.

Then it was dessert - another O My God moment. We ordered one each of the three offerings (just as we had done with the mains)! Michael got Gratin de raisin á la crème d'amande, Helen had Gauffre aux fruits exotiques avec sa glace sauce violette and I had Autour de la poiré.

Chef Felipe Vasquez has worked wonders with this menu. His young apprentice has made my pear tastes for dessert and Christelle and her staff have provided superb service to us during the night. VERY highly recommended should you ever find yourself in Dijon.

Lost in the Louvre

As I suspected Helen was up about 3 am - what a dag!
Rain started to fall last night and is predicted for today so it looks like a very good day to be indoors. It is off to the Louvre we go!

The day starts with more trips on the metro and Helen comments at one point how they must have heard her earlier impressions because someone has come through in the night and cleaned the place up. I suspect that it is more like the first shock has worn off a little - although we were not at the older stations of yesterday! We need to change lines to reach the Louvre and it seems that wherever we want to go entails walking from one extremity of the station on one line to the other extremity to get to the connecting line. Up stairs, down stairs, along tunnels and then up and down again. At one stop this afternoon, we are lucky enough to have a lift - a huge behemoth of a thing that will take most of the people in a carriage - guess that the distance to climb is just too great.

Like the underground systems of many cities, the Paris Metro is amazing. Very regular services and reliable. Today we travel from Bir-Hakeim to Charles De Gaulle Étoile on Line 6 and then change to Line 1 for Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. It is surprisingly smooth trip with only a two minutes wait for the connection (but after walking quite a way).

Arriving at the Palais Royal Musée du Louvre is a bit of a surprise - although I am not sure what we were expecting. From the station, you walk towards the Louvre, following the signage, but actually come to a very nice shopping centre first. A bit cavernous, it is nonetheless clean and very chic. Knowing we were in for a lot of walking today I have taken drugs and now need to put something more than an orange juice and a banana in my stomach. So the first stop is on the 'restaurant' floor. Now, these were not restaurants in the true sense of the word - more like the shopping centre food courts back home, but a little more up-market. We have foccacias, orange juice and coffee. And that foccacia pastry is so light. Mine is ham and cheese and Helen has a mediterranean mix one. They are so scrummy that I forget about a photo! And when you put something in, then the consequence is . . . The toilets were quite amazing and at €1 each to use them, one of the most expensive I have encountered in Europe yet. But they were spotless and beautifully scented with each loo cleaned as soon as you vacated - by the all male staff! They sold lots of bathroom accessories such as coloured and patterned toilet papers that started at €4.95 per roll!

We also find a store called Nature & Découvertes that was kind of like a mix between the Australian Geographic store and Red Earth. Since leaving her kangaroo travel buddy on the plane at Tokyo, Helen has been searching for a replacement and we find a kinda cute lady bug. Celine who we get chatting to at the checkout is asked to name her a typical French name and so we welcome Laura into our travels!

This shopping centre is home to a feature made famous for most of us in the movie 'The DaVinci Code'. The inverted end of the pyramid of the Louvre. Can't resist getting photos here! You have to agree that it makes for one very very cool photo!!!

Since we purchased our tickets, there is no need to join the queues to buy tickets here at the museum - hang on, what queues?? We don't see queues, but do see plenty of ticket selling machines. Oh well, didn't really matter. And while it is cool and windy outside, inside it is the opposite - very warm. So we are grateful for the opportunity to leave our jackets (sorry madame, no scarves - hang on, I'll just put it in the pocket!)

And the huge pyramid that forms part of the main entry into the Louvre is so interesting - especially when you look through it to the older structures of this museum. We collect maps as we go past the information desk and then try to decipher them. They are not at all very clear. From my reading of the Louvre web site over the last couple of days, I know that we want to go to the Denon and Sully wings. So off we set into the Sully wing as there seems to be less people heading in to it at the moment. We pass through an area that has been set up to display the history of the Louvre - could be interesting but we are so limited with time that we give this a miss and head through a display of the Louvre Medieval that includes the footings of the Louvre when it was a palace.

We then spend a bit of time in the Egyptian artefacts area. For most people, the Louvre is associated with paintings and I was not aware of the vast collection of other materials that they have. We have seen plenty of Egyptian artefacts on our trip so far, but these were as good as any. The biggest problem for us was that although we were allowed to take as many photos as we wanted, we could not use flash and the lighting was terrible from a photographic perspective with way too much light from the outside and harsh overhead lighting. It just meant that whatever we took photos of, we also got all the unwanted reflections - ours included at times!

There are a couple of famous Louvre items that we are making our way towards - the statue of Venus de Milo and of course the Mona Lisa. But cleverly, there is a wealth of culture and history that stands between these most famous items and your starting point. As we begin in the Sully wing, we are headed to Venus de Milo first. To get to it, we must pass through a series of galleries that are devoted to some of the finest sculpture of Greek and Roman antiquities - the Caryatids of the Louvre. The detail that has been carved in marble is amazing, and the knowledge of human anatomy is astounding - the sculptors must have sat for hours and hours just watching which muscles moved when an action was being done.

There are lots of other famous examples of early Grecian sculpture and later Roman copies such as Artemis (of the Diana of Versailles) and the Miletus torso. The beauty of this era is breath-taking – oh, if the lighting were just better controlled so we could get some good photos, sigh!

The Venus de Milo or Aphrodite stands at the end of a long gallery and unfortunately we come in from behind - only unfortunate because when later we see it as we walk away from the statue, the view is amazing. She stands on a plinth so that no matter how tall the people are that are around her, she can always be at least partially visible.

We finally get around to an area with paintings! These are huge works of art primarily on a religious theme and not at all what we are seeking. We are still in the Sully Wing and need to get to the Denon wing. The Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) is found on the second floor in the Denon wing and after asking for some help from one of the staff members, I understand why I can’t find it – I thought we were on the second floor, but no, we are still on the first floor – gosh with all the stairs going up and down and the numerous corridors that turn, even the greatest cartographer could easily get lost here. That is one of the downfalls of using a building designed for one purpose in another, different way.

The Mona Lisa as most people know now is not a big painting. In fact it is about the size of an A3 or maybe A2 sheet of paper. There are lots of people heading to it, and when we get into Room 16 where it is housed, I expect to see it all on its own. But no, she hangs on a wall in the centre of the room, facing a mammoth of a painting – The Wedding at Canna and is surrounded on the long walls by numerous other paintings of this time. Trouble is, there are barriers that keep the surging crowd back from the painting. You elbow your way to the front, take your photo and leave. You do not get the time to stand and just look deeply, to let this famous work talk to you, to allow its beauty to sink in. And that is a real pity.

Its time to get away from the maddening crowds. Helen wants to see the French Impressionists of the 19th and 20th centuries – Renoir, Matisse, Cézanne , Degas, Pissaro et al. The modern French paintings are in the second floor of the Richelieu Wing. We make our way there (again having to ask for help) – only to find it closed! Now, there is advice on the Louvre website that says that they do not have enough staff to keep all sections of the museum open every day, but we surely do not expect them to close the French Painters rooms, in France! But no, it is closed on a Thursday. Poor Helen. She is so disappointed. She so much wanted to see these works in a local context. We do, however, chance upon a painting of Tolouse Latrec.

We left the Louvre after about 5 hours and, which to be honest, we felt was a tad over-rated - mainly because of the difficulty in finding things and moving around, but also because they close off the French paintings - in France! for one day a week! They really need to learn to better signpost the corridors so that you can easily find your way around - I mean, I am a pretty decent map reader and kept finding that the only way to get from one point to another was to ask a staff member! Still, it is one of those icons that needs to be visited to be understood! One of the joyous things are the fascinating glimpses of the site and indeed the rest of Paris that can be seen from the large windows in all the areas of the first and second floor. The juxtaposition of old and new works so well and is so easily see from up there.

As we are (trying) to find the exit - follow the Sortie signage - we pass many, many other amazing collections including more classical pieces, Egyptian collects and some amazing early Iranian artworks. We also pay a quick visit to one of the inner courtyards filled with larger than life size marble and bronze sculptures. Standing proudly in a garden setting is the way to show these pieces to their best advantage. The changing light is also very kind to the eyes and it is easy to imagine yourself in some priveleged place long ago, being pampered and surrounded by the best of beauty.

And now it was off to Montmarte and the Sacre Cœur. This is one amazing place. From the moment we get off the metro at the Abbesses stop and head up to the street, you feel a very different kind of energy - an earthy, connected sort of buzz. There are a lot of little bookshops and small small cafes.

The Sacred Heart church (Sacre Cœur) is white against the background from anywhere in Paris. It stands out because it is on the hill of Montmarte surrounded by the flatness of the rest of Paris. A-m-a-z-i-n-g. So, just because it is on the hill, does it have to be a BIG hill? You either catch the funicular railway up the hill, or climb a million steps. Hmm not a really hard choice for me to make! And to make it even better, our rail pass that we bought covers the cost of the funicular trip as well. As Helen says "Cool!"

As the train leaves the floor of the valley and climbs towards the church high above, the air clears and the city falls away below. It is a surreal sensation. The true colour of Paris comes to light - the creams and white and slate blues. The terracotta chimney pots. The deep grey of the steels. THIS is what we will remember as Paris! There is a wind blowing and on top of the hill it is a little chilly. So coffee is the order of the day before we do anything else - sitting in the brisk breeze!!

Then it is over the cobbled road to have a look at the Church. Helen is struck not only by the view that it commands over the city below, but also by the enormity of the basilica in front of her. AND then we go in! Now it hits Helen. What I have been going on about when I refer to the churches and cathedrals. And while it is nice, it is nowhere near as stunning as many we have been in. The space is large and reasonably plain except for the ceiling over the altar - a very large, very elaborate mosaic frescoe. But they do not allow photos and the prices for the candles are that exorbitant that for the first time I light only one candle - the two mums and Mutti will have to share this one!

Back into the wind we go. We take a photo for a couple of young girls who gladly reciprocate and so we have a photo together on the forecourt before we head back down on the funicular (another first for Helen) and sit down for something to eat. We have decided to have an early dinner (like it is after 6:30 pm). The cafe has a wonderful position - overlooking the garden and straight up the hill to the Church. But they do not take the greatest advantage of it - the service is contemptable and the food mediocre. Such a waste. We walk around to the Metro and head back to the Marie Antionette so we can make an attempt at packing before bed tonight. We eat more of the Reblochon and finish the Boursin, washing it down with a lovely Cotes de Blaye red - ahhh the good days we spent at Blaye come flooding back. Time to go and pack!

Paris - ring o ring the (roundabout) rosie

Things that make Hel laugh - sirens and burping irons that sound like growling lions! What a laugh huh! She was ironing her jeans when she came out with that little gem. Not a big brekky today - gosh, we were still full from the cheese last night - no, make that earlier this morning!

Planned for a big day today - over to the Arc de Triomphe travelling by metro and then down the Champs Elysee. Hels is not a fan of the underground rail system - whether it be the RER or the local metro. She finds it grubby and smelly and crowded - not good for someone who can get a little claustrophobic at times. All of a sudden I realise that she has never spent any significant time in anywhere with an undergound rail system - unlike Michael and I who commuted in Sydney for years and years. Now I am thinking that I should plan our trips around the bus network, but she insists she is OK - very brave of her (I am not being condescending).

You emerge from the subway onto the Champs Elysee facing the Arc de Triomphe - and what an awesome sight it is. Helen had no idea how big it was - I think I felt the same the first time I saw it. And the traffic that rushes around it put her hearth in her mouth just like it did mine! You hold your breath thinking there is going to be one huge pile-up, but there isn't. It is just so crazy and frenetic. There are a couple of German girls from near Stuttgart of all places trying to get a photo and I offer to take one for them. And they are more than happy to reciprocate. They are excited - they leave the for the US tomorrow and I can't resist giving them a little advice to make dealing with the entry requirements a little easier.

Last night the American couple we met had given us their tickets for one of the open bus tours - the tickets are valid for 2 days and they were leaving today. As luck would have it, the correct bus was sitting at the bus stop at the Arc. Now, Michael and I have used these buses in many cities - some are great, some are very ordinary. I wasn't sure if Helen would be happy to do a tour - it limits you to the main sights route - according to someone else. But no, she suggested that we use the tickets.

It was the best thing we could have done. With the limited time that we have in the City of Light, this was a great way to see all the major sights - and especially those that we knew we are not going to have time to visit seperately. And it gives you a bigger look - you are off the ground and can get a clearer impression of the siting and impressiveness of a place this way. She moved from awed silence, drinking in the atmosphere and the magic of this place and verbal excited chatting. I am so glad that I have her here in Paris with me. I really don't think that there is another person on this globe who sees so close to what I see (and then some I suspect).

When I was downloading the photos we took today (733 between us - her 440 of them!), we have unknowingly taken so many the same or similar in terms of the style, subject and perspective of a photo. Wow, thats my friend, mon ami!

You know there was so much to take in. Helen more than me was in visual overload and I am so glad that she has so many pics because she won't really be able to process them mentally until she is back at home in Australia and over her trip. Been there, happenend to me too. So, what did we see?

So, we left the Arc de Triompe and headed bravely across the intersection where there are up to five lanes of traffic, no lines and almost no rules. But as I said to Helen, the bus is bigger than the rest of the traffic, so we are pretty safe!

The route we follow is:
- down the Champs Elysee, into Winston Churchill Avenue to the Grand and Petit Palaces
- across the Seine to the back of the Trocadero then crawled slowly past so that we could all get a photo with the Eiffel Tower in the background
- around the front of the Trocadero and across the Pont d’Iéna to outside the Eiffel Tower where today there are thousands of people queueing for tickets
- through the Champ de Mars looking on one side back to the Eiffel Tower and on the other to the Ecole Militaire
- around to the Musée du Louvre where we are going tomorrow, admiring the space and use of architecture
- onto the Ilse de Cité to the Notré Dame
- down the Rue Lille to the Musée d'Orsay where the statues on the outside of the building are amazing
- around pass the stunning Opera House with all its gilded statues atop the corners that gleam in the sun
before we turn back onto the Champs Elysee for the journey back up to the Arc de Triomphe. It was quite a journey and the fact that we took so many photos is testament to the amazing sights that the City of Light provides.

By the time we got off the bus a couple of hours later we needed to make a comfort stop. We are passing McDonalds on the Champs Elysee and off Helen trots to join a pretty long looking queue. I didn't expect her back any time soon. After quite a while, she comes out all flustered - she had been stuck, locked in the toilets in Maccas! Hot ladies room, dark walled loos and my poor claustrophobic friend. Gosh, why did it have to happen to her. Anyway, we leave and get her some air outside and look for a nice open cafe to have a coffee. A little further down the Champs Elysee we find it.

We sit inside at the Cafe George V (little tip guys, terrace or pavement orders cost considerably more and I am sure the waiters knowingly encourage tourists to sit outside!) We even managed to order and repsond to our very obliging and engaging waiter in understandable French (wow, I am impressed with us!). We ordered Cafe au Lait and Crepes - mine with Grand Manier and Helen's with Creme Marron - both with Chantilly cream - yu-um! He very kindly offers to take a photo for us as soon as we have the camera out! But it paid off - he got a nice tip!

Cross the road to get a better photo of the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the road and find the banks are all on this side of the street - hurrah, we can replenish our dwindling cash! Then it is back across the road to go to the Virgin MegaStore so we can pre-buy our tickets for the Louvre tomorrow and so avoid the queues - we pay a tiny bit more, but well worth it. Continue down to get photos of the amazing gardens at Franklin Roosavelt Avenue - even though it is now winter and the blossoms are past their best, but the gardens are still stunning.

Then its on to the Metro to go back and have a look at Notre Dame and get there literally 5 minutes after they have closed. Helen had her first encounter with Gypsies around Paris today. Merv (the travel agent back in Maryborough) had warned her about the Africans selling souvenirs near the Eiffel Tower. But the Gypsies are another thing altogether. They are persistent and niggly - they invade your 'space' and here, the opening line is "Speak English?" so if you look dumb, don't make eye contact and just keep walking, the soon lose interest. I have been told by people in a number of cities as we have been travelling that the clever ones can bank up to €2,000 a week!

Afterwards we had a very ordinary dinner at Quasimodo Notre Dame. Guess that close to the Cathedral they serve a-la-tourist food - quick to cook, quick to serve. Get em in, get em fed, get em out!

So what stood out today? Gosh, what a stupid question - we are in Paris for gods sake! But the monuments and fountains are amazing as is the Paris skyline in general. And the Iron Lace on balconies gives the Parisian buildings a look of not only completedness, but also of eternal elegance. It does not matter that it differs from building to building. Because it all follows the same line, they look seamless. Absolutely fabulous!

We see the tunnel where Princess Diana met her death and remember where we were on that day. We hear the bells of the Cathedral chime out across the City.

The dinner cruise boats on the Seine are unbelievable. I mean there are boats running up and down all day long, but those at night have these incredibly strong lights that are directed to the shore. From the Eiffel Tower the other night they are so strong that when the are passing, you lose all your night vision. And when we are in the apartment, they light up both sides of the riverbank. I am so suprised that the powers that be have not legislated against them. It is the arrogance of the tourist industry and visual pollution at its very worst.

So a huge day and we get home knackered. Helen goes to bed early and will no doubt be up halfway during the night! Another big one tomorrow with the Louvre planned.