Interlude in Paris

Three days in Paris. What a treat! Matt and I have been immersed in all things French.

Surprisingly, for anecdotally the French are stroppy and unhelpful, we have had friendly encounters with the locals. One Gentleman Tabac owner spent ages helping us set up Simcards in our phones, provided a paperclip as a tray opener, listened to the top up messages, and even rang our phones afterwards to check everything was working OK before wishing us au revoir.

We stayed in a small boutique (quirky) hotel, with red velvet curtains and a boudoir. The staff were great and our stay pleasant. I had fun every day riding the two person lift, around which snaked a circular staircase.

We had some great visits. The Concierge, where Marie Antoinette was held before her guillotining. Versailles with its amazing gardens, I didn't go into the buildings for unbelievingly it is not open on a Monday but Matt went back on Wednesday to look inside.  We went boating on the lake at Versailles too, which was great fun - no life jacket needed- health and safety is no where near as strict here.

We really enjoyed Notre Dame, which is dominatingly huge inside and richly decorated.  We received another kindness from the French. We wanted to go into the Treasury at Notre Dame but it was cash-only, something our NZ "eftpos everywhere" brains had not adjusted to. We only had enough cash for Matt to go in, and so the lady at the desk told me I could go hire an audioguide which would give me free entry and could pay with a card. But the audioguide people wanted ID. My passport was in the safe at our hotel room so I returned empty handed. The cashier took one look at me and told me to go join my son and let me through for free!

We ran into a few fun buildings while walking to our intended destinations, including

The Theatre where they danced the CanCan.

Yesterday an old friend of mine came over from UK to spend the day with us...

The last visit for the day was the Louvre. Well, what a beautiful building

and great collection but the thousands of people pressed into the halls made it uncomfortable for us and I actually felt quite panicked when we couldn't find our way out. There was only one entrance and exit in the whole place and streaming crowds. I couldn't help but think that if a gunman was on the loose or an earthquake happened we would never get out. We didn't last long, just saw the Greek Statues and the Italian paintings.  Then we had to rush to Gate du Nord to get Geraldine back on the Eurostar, which was a nervewracking rush.

Ah, Luxembourg Museum, Ah, the Roman Ampitheatre, Ah! the Arc de Triomphe, Ah, the Pantheon!!! The Crypt at the Pantheon was amazing, there's a picture in this group just for Montana-rose, Marie Curies sarcophagus.

You can tell we have had a great time, croissants really are better here. We've eaten Croque Monsieur and drunk Chocolat Chaud, and eaten the best Chinese ever.