30 July

Feeling pretty knackered from yesterday's marathon walking effort, we lazed around a bit, not getting up til around 8:00(ish), before heading downstairs for some breakfast.  Today it was Omelettes!!  Beautiful, made with emental cheese, ham and mushrooms (for me).  Of course there were the obligatory pastries as well - who can turn down freshly made croissants or par aux chocolat??   And in the middle of Paris as well!!

I think I forgot to mention that when arrived in our first day, we were starving so bought a Croque Monsieur and a Croque Madame - I've eaten Croque Monsieurs before, but never a Croque Madame, which is the same as the Monsieur, but with a fried egg on top - OMG, they were amazing!!!!!!  We need these in NZ!!

After stuffing ourselves it was out on to the streets of Paris again.  Not so much walking today, but we still managed to cover a fair bit of ground.

Our hotel is situated right beside the Louvre, so first port of call today was straight across the road, through the arches to the glass pyramid.  We didn't go into the Louvre, as we wanted to spend the time walking the streets and we had also toured the inside when we were last here.  Across the massive courtyard (courtyard is probably the wrong word) and out the other side and we were beside the Seine River.

The river is a hive of activity, both on and beside it.  Tourist boats, barges laden with goods and personal water craft busily cruise up and down the river.  Some of the barges are massive, stretching over 100 metres.  Alongside the river, there are runners, walkers, restaurants, cafes and streets sellers.  Paris has certainly embraced the river and made it work for them!  There's always something to see!

Across the river, we wandered around the streets of St Germain des Pres.  This is a stunning area of Paris, full of beautifully architected buildings, narrow streets and cafes and is recognised as the musical centre of Paris.  

In the evenings, groups gather on the banks of the river to listen to music and dance - on our river cruise last night we saw several groups dancing on the river bank.  It looked fantastic.  Pity there isn't time to stay longer in Paris and join in!

We made our way back down to the river and back towards the Louvre.  From there we walked up to, and then the length of the Champs Élysées.  The Tour de France had only just recently finished, so they were still removing all the temporary seating and there was a lot of rubbish lying around which meant it wasn't looking at its best.  Nonetheless it's still a beautiful avenue to wander along.  

We settled in for a drink to do a bit of people watching, which seems to be a favourite pastime of both locals and tourists.  It's great just sitting, watching people out on the wide footpaths - you certainly witness some pretty unusual and eccentric characters.  

From there it was a slow, longish walk back to our hotel.  We took the scenic route and just enjoyed the wonderful street scenes and architecture of Paris.  It is without doubt a beautiful city!

And now on to the next leg of our journey - Barcelona!

A 30 min taxi ride and we were at the airport and ready to head south. Hmmm our plane's delayed!!!  That's the second plane trouble we've had this trip.  Hope it's not a sign of more???  Didn't turn out too bad - an hour later than scheduled and we were on our way.

Arriving in Barcelona, we were greeted by a very welcome change in temperature.  Paris was surprisingly cold and we didn't really cater for that, so the warmth is most welcome.  Getting through the airport was so simple as there's no customs to clear!  From there it was straight into a taxi and into town - all done in a matter of minutes.

We had been in Barcelona in '88, but memories have certainly faded.  I remember the incredible Sagrada Familia Basilica, but it'll be interesting to see if anything else is familiar.  

The drive into town took us past the most amazing cemetery that's burrowed into a hillside that stretched for what seemed to be a couple of kilometres.  The cemetery contained what looked to be family plots built on one on top of the other, with glass fronts.  Loads of crypts adorned with all sorts of statues and figurines!

We arrived at the hotel to find our friends Paul and Christine were there waiting for us - beer and bubbles in hand!  They were a very welcome sight!

We headed out to a local eatery to catch up on what we had respectively been up to in our travels and then it was back to the hotel around midnight.  

29 July - how to squeeze the most into one day

Short story first, our day consisted of a visit to Versailles, La Duree at Place de la Concorde, La Fayette department store, Sacre Cour, Montmartre, Arc de Triomphe, Trocodero, Eiffel Tower, Cruise on the Seine - most of which was done on foot!  

By the end of the day we were knackered and feet were feeling as if they'd been well and truly beaten up!!!

The day started out great, with a nice cooked breakfast and then a 40 min bus & train ride out to to Versailles. Once there, we joined the masses in a 30 minute queue to go through the necessary security check to get into the palace.  Once in, we were in awe of this place. 

Too be honest, I'm a bit lost for words to describe the Palace of Versailles.  The opulence and grandeur is something else!  I should have bought a book and copied out some of the key info!  The public is only allowed to view certain areas of the palace, which makes you wonder what the rest is like.  

What we saw was amazing.  The Kings and Queens (separate) chambers, the hall of mirrors, drawing rooms, sitting rooms, waiting rooms - the list goes on and on.   The original paintings that adorn the walls, the painted ceilings, gold encrusted statues, crystal chandeliers - on and on.........

Then it was off to visit the outside.  The gardens, which are open to the public, are simply stunning.  The size of the gardens is just ridiculous and I lost count of the number of pools, water features, statues etc that we saw.  

Even though we spent two hours inside and out, we only visited a small fraction of the palace and grounds.

From Versailles it was off to Place de la Concorde and a visit to the original La Duree, famous for their macaroons, for a bite to eat.  It was very fancy, with nice china and lovely place settings........

After lunch, we walked up the road to the catholic cathedral of Ste-Marie Madeleine.  This is a beautiful building were visitors are welcome to visit at no cost.  The outside is really dirty and possibly puts people off going inside.  But inside is completely different and is definitely worth taking the time to investigate.

The stained class, the marble and beautifully painted ceilings are certainly impressive.  It was hard not to laugh inside though, as there was a man employed to walk inside the cathedral as the official shhhhhhh-person!  He just walked in circles around the pews shhhhing all the time - he made more bloody noise than everyone else!

After that we continued our ramble around the streets of Paris slowly making our way toward Sacre Cour.  Before getting there we stopped at the Lafayette department store to view the impressive dome that is the buildings centrepiece.  I'm not really one for visiting department stores, but this was worth the visit.  

After a bit more rambling (including walking in circles at one stage) we finally managed to find our way to Sacre Cour.  

Sacre Cour is simply amazing.  I think I'm running out out of superlatives to describe the Paris buildings!  But they are all just so incredible, it's sometimes a struggle to aptly describe them.

Sacre Cour is built on top of a hill in Montmartre and offers the most fantastic 360 degree views across Paris.  If you can be bothered, which we were, the 300 step spiral walk up to the dome is well worth it as the views are even better!  There were certainly a lot of very tired souls at the top!  So just sitting, resting and enjoying the views was a must!!

Back down and it was getting a little late, but we still had things to do.  So it was off to the Arc de Triomphe for yet more stairs to climb - again, the pain endured in the calf muscles was well worth it!  

The Arc de Triomphe is the centrepiece of Paris, with all the main roads starting at its base and radiating out across the city from there.   The monument itself is beautiful and shows great respect for those that have lost their lives during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.  

Since the late 1800's, French troops have paraded through the central arch after successful military campaigns and for the Bastille Day Parade.  But after they laid the tomb to the Unknown Soldier at its base earlier in the 1900's,  all military parades walk up to the arch and then around the side. Even Hitler observed this when he paraded through there in 1940!

After that it was a short Metro ride to the Trocodero and a walk down to the most famous of all Paris landmarks, the Eiffel Tower.  We had planned to have dinner there, but it was a bit hectic, so instead we decided to take a river cruise and then head back to the hotel for some much needed rest after another day of walking.  

What a day!  We both felt completely knackered.  After finally getting back to the hotel at 10:00pm, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant before finally getting back to our room at 11:45pm.  Pretty long day, when you consider we headed out at 8:30am!  

Bonne Nuit!