Paris

Saturday Paris

Arrived in Paris around breakfast time. Took the metro to Charonne when we cloaked our bags at the hotel.  Back on the metro to Bastille where Ashley started our French history lesson.  Walked through Place de Vosges with beautiful gardens, then on to Notre Dame Cathedral where the rain stopped.  However the queues were really long for some reason so we just looked at the outside before heading the wrong way down the river looking for the Louvre.  When we realised our mistake, we took the metro back and discovered that the queues were surprisingly short.  We had some lunch in the cafe then walked straight in.  Went straight to the Mona Lisa, then wandered for several hours through the galleries seeing Venus de Milo, the apartments of Napoleon III, lots of paintings and sculptures, the Pyramid and Egyptian relics.  Outside we went past the Tuleries gardens and palace, Place Royal and Place De L'Opera before taking the metro back to the hotel and checking in.  Wandered down the road to Voltaire for tea and had veal cordon bleu and pizza.

Sunday Paris

Didn't want to get out of bed, but forced myself out.  Tried to get to the Palace of Versailles early to avoid the queues, but didn't really succeed.  The only compensation was that it got much worse as the morning wore on.  Caught the 9am metro to Gare St Lazare and the 9:30 train to Versailles.  Walked about a kilometre through the town out to the palace.  We joined a queue to buy a ticket that took about an hour, and another queue of about three quarters of an hour to get inside, then another queue to get to the audio guide.  By the time we got inside, the length of the queues had doubled!  Shuffled around with everyone else.  First through the chapel, then upstairs to the state apartments, King's chamber, hall of mirrors, dining rooms and so on.  Very crowded, especially when you encountered tour groups with bossy guides that blocked doorways or barged through depending on their want.  Back downstairs and through the Dauphin's apartments, then through the daughters apartments.  Finally through the picture galleries showing the history of France, especially the battles.  Ashley enjoyed it all, having just done French history.  Then a wander in the gardens, which were far too big to get to the end of.  Walked back to the station, stopping for a burger lunch about 3:30 p.m..  Finally a Metro back to the hotel.  Pizza and crepes for tea in Voltaire.

Monday Paris

Well if we thought the queues were bad yesterday, we hadn't seen anything yet.  Got up early again and arrived at the Eiffel Tower before 9 a.m., and joined the already long queue.  Opened at 9:30 a.m. but it took until 11:30 a.m. for us to get our tickets.  Then we queued again to get in the lifts, and then again on the second level to get to the lift to the top.  Finally got to the viewing tower at 12:30 p.m. after 3 1/2 hours of queuing and shuffling!  Nice view.  Clear day but overcast so everything was grey.  Saw all the sites on the top two levels and then down to the second floor, before heading to the bottom at 1:30 p.m.  The ticket queue was still as big as when we arrived!  From the tower we walked through the Champ De Mars to the peace memorial and military academy, then back down past the tower, across the Seine to the Trocadero.  Up the Avenue to the Arc De Triumph, then down the Champs Elysees.  I'd love to say we wandered, but it was too busy so we really shuffled and dodged.  More shops and less park than I expected from watching the tour.  Hopped onto the metro and went back to Notre Dame in the hope that the queues would be shorter.  They weren't, but after this morning a 20 minute wait seemed a breeze.  Enjoyed the architecture and stained-glass windows.  Back on the metro and back to the hotel as it started to get dark.  Had tea at a Chinese restaurant in Voltaire.  Lovely, but got a huge shock when asked to pay, the displayed prices were per 100 g, and when everything was weighed we owed €26 - by far our most expensive meal.  At 10:30 p.m. we got back on the metro and went into the Champs Elysees where we stood with the assembled throngs until midnight when the Eiffel Tower twinkled.  A few private fireworks but nothing on a grand scale which was unexpected.  Really nice experience, and after a while we headed back on the free metro.

Tuesday Paris

A day of finishing off odds and ends.  We started at the Pantheon, which being New Years Day was closed, but we walked around and admired it.  Ashley went off to Roland Garros in the hope of the tour, while we went to the Musee D’Orsay in the hope of seeing a Monet or Renoir, but it was closed too.  So we took a train chasing after Ashley -- finding him singing in a park near Roland Garros!  Back on the metro to Sacre Coeur where we climbed the stairs, spurning the funicular.  Shuffled around the interior -- this time they were serious about no pictures.  Wandered around the village of Montmartre looking at all of the painters and artists.  Down the hill and round the corner to the Moulin Rouge, slap in the middle of the red light district.  After a late lunch, yet another hamburger, we took the metro back to the hotel finally declaring our itinerary complete.  Spent the evening resting in the room, except when we needed to drag ourselves out for tea.