Lots of laughing, sore feet and overloaded cameras
Trip Start
Sep 02, 2011
1
10
26
Trip End
Oct 12, 2011
Where I stayed
Grand St Martin
What I did
Hop On, Hop Off Tour Bus, plus plenty of walking and stair climbing
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Friday, September 16, 2011
We have taken heaps of photos over the past two days. We spent most of yesterday on the Bus, looking at the awe-inspiring historic sites from the comfort of our Red Bus. We did hop on and off a couple of times and also take a small walk along the Avenue des Champs Elysees. The Tour Bus route started at the Eiffel Tower with designated stops at Champ de Mars, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, The Opera Galeries Lafayette, down the Champs Elysees, around the Arc de Triomphe, past the Grand Palais and crossed and re-crossed the River Seine several times.
Yesterday was a long day and it was after 7 pm when we finally arrived back in our apartment. We have proudly negotiated our way around the underground rail system and it is extremely affordable. So far it has cost Mum and Sis less than 10 Euros each to travel for two days on the rail system. I mistakenly purchased a 5 day, 3 zone unlimited travel card for 25 Euros which again would be fantastic value if I was here on my own and able to fully utilise the facility.
We felt today would be much more relaxing than yesterday with planned stops at Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre and Notre Dame with a tour down the Seine if possible. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men! Not sure what happened, but it wan't an easy day. We seemed to be doing a lot of walking. We only managed to make it to the The Lourve and Notre Dame. Mum and Sis decided to wait in the park whilst I had a (very) brief look at The Louvre; we decided that the walking would be too much for Mum and as Sis had been to the Louvre last year, she was prepared to stay with with Mum whilst I had the briefest of experiences at the Louvre. It was worth it! Even though I only managed to see a very small portion of treasures housed there, just to be in the building was an amazing experience.
The Angels were again looking after me today. I had purchased a couple of pretty tops for two of my grandchildren and left them with Mum and Sis whilst I went into the Louvre. After a delicious lunch of baguettes, orange juice and apple tart in the Gardens, we left the Louvre intending to connect with the Red Bus and continue our tour. As we were waiting for the bus, I happened to mention the souvenirs. It turned out that they had left them in the Louvre Gardens. I had the distinct feeling that I should return and look for them. As time has proven to me over and over again, I acted upon this feeling and within half an hour I was back with Mum and Sis - triumphant. They were still in the location where Mum and Sis had first entered the gardens two hours earlier. Thank you Angels.
It was time to head for Notre Dame, but as we had done quite a bit of walking we decided to do the complete circuit of the Red Bus tour and let Mum rest for a while, before finishing our day at Notre Dame and from there we would make our way home. We discovered that Notre Dame will celebrate is 850th anniversary in 2013. We all lit some candles and said prayers for our loved ones and I purchased a book on Notre Dame. We decided to catch a taxi for the last stage home and finally flagged down a taxi driven by a lovely young man with the most beautiful smile and he also turned out to be an excellent driver - if somewhat scary. He was always in control but as Mum said, she felt like she was at the Calder Raceway.
There is so much to see and do in Paris alone, that it is absolutely impossible to do justice to any of it within the 2-3 day we have available. It has only whet my appetite. I can see why Paris is considered to be a romantic place, as it would be absolutely lovely to stroll down any part of Paris on a warm summer's evening - magical. This is a great time of year to travel, as the crowds are right down and all queues move very quickly
Mum has decided she wants to have a rest day tomorrow and so Sis and I will take this opportunity to investigate the immediate area around our Apartment. There is plenty to see here. It will be an easy day and early night for us all tomorrow as our taxi will pick us up around 6.45 am to catch the train to Florence. That's a 9 hour trip for Mum which will give her plenty of time to prepare for the next part of her adventure. Till next time ...
