So, it all came down to this. All those weeks of travel was working up to the city of all cities - bring it on Paris!
Sterling Air did a stirling job (ahaha) of chauffering us into town, and in conjunction with the wonders of the RER and metro system we made our way to Clichy, our home for the next week (and one of Paris's largest hostels). Armed with the trusty Lonely Planet we did a walking tour through Montmartre, visiting Sacre Coeur and checking out the overpriced souvenirs, then headed out to Pere Lachaise cemetary to see Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison etc. It's such a serene place, you could just wander there for hours, and some of the monuments are so beautiful.
But we were here to see everything we could in the shortest amount of time (I don't know how long you would need to give Paris justice, but I see new things everytime I go, so our stint of five days was definitely not enough) so on day two we headed into town to join a free tour of Paris. Free tour you say? Well, you pay what you think it's worth at the end, and after seeing the Pont Neuf, Louvre, Grand Palais, Petit Palais, Tuileries gardens, Champs Elysees etc. etc., let's just say we decided to part with some of our (rapidly diminishing) euros. But we were not sated! So that afternoon we crammed in a visit to the Arc de Triomphe, a wander through some gorgeous back streets, and of course, a trip up the Eiffel Tower.
That night we joined up with a pub crawl run by the same people who do the free tour, met heaps of cool people, had more than enough of the free vodka orange shots, and (incredibly) negotiated the Parisien night bus system to make it home safe and sound. At least, that's what I think happened...
Day three dawned incredibly hot and sunny (again) and so after a visit to Notre Dame we motored on out to Versailles to eat iceblocks, dip our feet in the ponds and lie around in the stunning gardens. We also thought we had factored in just enough time for a visit inside the chateau, but were unceremoniously kicked out early - hint for young players, it is ginormous, overwhelming, and will take way more time to see than you think!
After a day out of Paris it was time to get right back into the action so after visiting more gardens, watching some serious boules competitions, and spending way, way too much money on the most delicious macaroons ever (La Duree macaroons are unbelieveable), it was off to Le Louvre. I (Amelia) was desperately keen to see the collection of Northern European art, as it was closed the last time I visited in '99. So of course, it was closed again the day we went as well. Sacre bleu!! But, to make up for it, we saw the Egypt collection, many, many, many paintings, Napoleon III's opulent apartments, and a little old painting of a brunette.
We had originally planned to be jetting out of Paris that night, making some more use of our Eurail pass while we still had money to afford to eat, but being August, all the Eurail pass seats were already booked. One more day in Paris - such a chore! Luckily we found some stuff to keep ourselves busy, namely, a visit to the Catacombes de Paris which was just so eerie you couldn't keep it in your mind that you were walking through tunnels of real bones, and a visit to the Hotel des Invalides. The latter is where Napoleon I (Napoleon Bonaparte)'s tomb is, as well as that of other luminaries such as Vauban and Marechal Foch. The complex also plays host to the National Army Museum which would have kept Adrian amused for days, but the SNCF waits for no man, so it was au revoir Paris and bonjour Metz!
For more Paris photos, see here.
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