Paris

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Note to reader...this isn’t a completed copy yet but since I am near internet access for a short period of time thought something is better than nothing and I can always update down the track if I remember - ohh yeah there will be spelling mistakes on this one!
Thanks and enjoy
Jo 

Well the day started with a drive from Aberdeen to Edinburgh to drop the car off and grab our flight. We arrived into Paris around 9.30pm and by the time we got on the train to get to the city it was closer to 11pm. Wow it’s hot and humid and after a full day of being in transit I just want to get some sleep. To top things off when we get to our metro stop we cannot find the way to the hostel and it isn’t getting any cooler.
After about 10 minutes walking around in the dark we finally get some directions and find the hostel. We are checked in and we walk up the tiny spiral staircase the four flights to our room. It’s an attic, it’s bloody hot and I am close to tears. This place is awful! The toilets are on the 2nd floor and showers on the 2nd & 1st floor and they are feral.... Jo is not exactly a happy camper and at midnight head out for some space and food.

After a restless night Jay and I get up and have the brekkie provided and decide to head out and do another bike tour to get a grip on where everything is. Not the best value tour but our guide did give up plenty of hints and suggestions on some of the sights that are worth a visit. We spend the afternoon watching the dismal display of Australian cricket at a pub just down the road from the hostel this has to be one of the redeeming features of the hostel, cool pub down road.

We tackled the Louvre the next day with an attack plan laid out was an early start and off to fight the crowds... who had obviously slept in as we queued for about 5 minutes to get inside. We wandered through and visited the Mona Lisa first before the rest of Paris woke up and invaded the Louvre and was surprised that is was bigger than I expected. The impression I had got from most that had seen this famous painting have made it out that she is only just bigger than a napkin but in essence the Mona Lisa is about A3 in size and safely tucked away behind bullet proof glass. Not bad for a painting that sat in storage for many years considered nothing special.

The rest of the day was spent wondering around and getting lost inside the Louvre. It was explained to us on our bike tour that if you were to spend 60 seconds looking at every piece of art that the Louvre has on display it would take over 9 ½ months of continuous viewing, that means no sleep, loo breaks, lunch breaks or anything. With that in mind we were comfortable with what we viewed and left exhausted at the end of the day, even if we did have an hour lunch break catching a power nape on the park across the road.

In the evening we just wandered around and went for a walk to grab some shots of the Notre Dame and generally wonder around to get our massive dinner - crepe filled with all sorts of goodies - before we headed to bed.

Musea d’Orsaye was on the agenda the following day and again with helpful advice from our bike tour guide we started from the 5th floor and worked our way down and he was so right in giving us this advice. His theory was go to the good stuff whilst you are fresh and then if you get worn out as you work down the levels then at least you’ve seen cream of the displays.... what are they, they are the impressionalist paintings, Monet’, Renoir, Van Gough to name a few.

I was blown away with the collection and during the last 6 months I have learnt to appreciate fine art and have fallen in love with the impressionalist style of art. Jay is like a kid in a candy shop as all his favourite artist are here and it’s good for me as he has explained a lot about some of the pieces and the 3 hours we spent on the 5th floor were spellbinding. We didn’t make it to any other floor as we were so exhausted after looking at all the works on the 5th.

The rest of the day we walked over to Notre Dame for a quick peek inside and to me the cathedral is more spectacular from the outside. The main hallway is massive and the ceiling is very high up but overall it is quite a simple sort of cathedral to what we have seen to date, although there was a treasury section that we opted not to go through so I suppose a lot of the riches are probably through there.

At the Fifth Pub we have met up with some really great English lad’s studying/working in Paris and they are good fun to be watching the Ashes with.

Evening was a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower and the opportunity to take some night photos and contemplate the next days sightseeing. Time is flying and days are merging into themselves.

Right, well our final day in Paris and we are doing it... we are going to go up the Eiffel Tower to say we've done it and to take in the view from above and it's amazing. We were lucky with a short queue and in no time we have made it to the middle platform, windy but a clear day and great vistas to be had from all areas. Putting aside our respect for heights we headed to the top and wow, the city just goes on for miles and miles. After spending time at the Eiffle Tower we then scrolled across to take some more photos of this iron tower and then just bummed about for the rest of the day.

Sunny London is next on the agenda.

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