Paris

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I slept very well indeed but was up a little earlier than I would like to have been at 0630. Just across the road from Ibis Budget Paris La Villette was a small Tabac / Cafe where we had a cheese and ham baguette for breakfast. The bread in France is always fantastic and we just can't get the same stuff at home so we both enjoyed the basic feed.

Jo was keen to check out the Palace of Versailles so we spent at least an hour heading to the South West outskirts of Paris on the Metro. The double decker train filled up with each stop until there was little room to move as we reached our destination. We joined the hoards from the train on the short walk to the Palace, stopping at a cafe for a beer (no time is too early) to try and get away from the crowds. Our plan didn't really work out however as by the time we entered the front gates, our trainload had joined several others, along with several busloads of tourists and the queue was at least 600 metres long just to get tickets. The thought of several hours in the queue was a little too much for us so we took a few photos and returned to the train station for the hour long trip back to Paris, disembarking at Invalides for the short walk to Champs Elysees.

Space on the sidewalk was heavily contested by the throngs of tourists but we fought through them all and walked towards the Arc de Triomphe, stopping at the Renault store to take photos of a Red Bull F1 car and at the Toyota store to see some of the Le Mans Prototype cars that were on display. I was pretty certain that we couldn't afford to even enter the other retail shops along the Champs Elysees so we steered clear.

Admission to get to the top of Arc de Triomphe was EUR10 and equated to a nudge under 4c per stair. This proved to be far and away the best value for money in the city with the view straight back down Champs Elysees to Place de Concorde worth the ticket alone. We spent around 20 minutes taking photos and enjoying the view.

The guidebook that Jo was using mentioned a cheese shop half a dozen blocks from Arc de Triomphe so we decided to give it a go. Whilst the cheese was the excuse for the walk, the most promising reason was that the shop was apparently hidden away in an area visited infrequently by tourists. I found that statement pretty hard to believe as we were yet to see anywhere in Paris without the accompanying busloads of snap-happy tourists but with eternal optimism we pounded the pavement.

Rue Poncelot was the closest thing we saw to real Parisian life. Small produce, food and other culinary shops spilled out onto the street to create a market. The produce was fresh and colourful, the fish couldn't have been much fresher without wriggling off the ice they were displayed on and the bread looked crispy and tempting. Unfortunately our cheese shop closed from 1400 - 1600 so we had a little time to spare. Located at the end of the market street on an intersection with an even smaller side street, Cafe Ponce was calling our names so we settled in to a small table inside. I ordered the Fois Gras burger (EUR18) and Jo had the pasta. Our waiter spoke a little English - just enough to jokingly berate me for my poor French... turns out the French say Kronenbourg differently to how Kiwis say it - with significantly more phlegm. The burger hit the spot nicely and was complimented by fries with mustard mayo.

The cheese shop opened just after 1600 and we picked up some Brie that was so ripe it tried to escape from the plastic bag and a blue cheese of unknown origin to eat a little later.

We took the Metro back to the hotel where I thought it would be a good idea to catch up on some sleep for a few hours before heading out to get some dinner. Jo woke me from a deep sleep around 2030 and it was pretty clear I was in no state to go back out. We were catching up with the Swedes in the morning and I was sure that would mean more than a few late nights. For now, I was just happy to sleep through the night... we had to be out at Charles de Gaulle early to collect our rental car and go to Nantes.

... Meanwhile in Sweden the Herbys were waiting for their flight. They were delayed for about six hours as their plane was still in Iraq and couldn't fuel up enough to make the journey all the way to Stockholm. Nik had decided to stay at the airport in Paris as there was no chance of getting a good nights sleep. It was far from the ideal start to their holiday.

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