Packing in the Pleasures of Paris

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The six hour drive to Paris went slowly with only a services stop and a boring stop to Fontainbleu – a palace that was ridiculously big and was King Louis’ castle. We get to Paris at 4 and went straight up the Eiffel Tower, which were herded like sheep to get up the 3 elevators to the top where it was absolutely packed but a great experience nevertheless. Back to our nice hotel for dinner before a fantastic bus tour of the city with some great commentary and the lit up monuments were a highlight. We stopped for photos at 9 as the Eiffel Tower light show started and was great.

The next morning was another early start to enjoy our full free day in Paris – starting at the Louvre for opening at 9am and straight to the Mona Lisa, which is smaller than I had envisaged. Could have spent hours in the Louvre, but instead opted to check out the rest of Paris including Notre Dame Cathedral and the Musea D'Orsay, stopping for lunch and then the afternoon at the Rodin museum (no, not The Thinker, please not The Thinker!), the Dome de Englese (Napolean's tomb - rather excessive for a short guy actually) and climbing the magnificant Arc De Triomphe. Very tiring day and finished with a quick nap before heading to the Nouvelle Eve for an amazing cabaret show - a great mix of acrobatics, topless dancing, comedy, juggling and to top it off some funny audience participation. The Nouvelle Eve is pretty much the Moulin Rouge's poorer cousin but the show was excellent. Was struggling to stay awake by the end of it though but managed to kick on for a couple of drinks at the Irish pub next door before heading back to the hotel through the very dicey Montemart district at about 1:30am. All in all, an action filled 2 days in Paris!

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