Paris, France

We headed off this morning with yet another attempt at finding a famous flea market in Paris. It was a beautiful day in Paris with a temperature of 26 degrees so on our way to the market we went via the Eiffel Tower to check on the queues.

As Hugh waited in line whilst I sussed out the situation it was evident that our time to strike the Eiffel Tower was now and not in the elevator queue but in the stair climb queue. It only took 40 minutes in the queue before we were on our way climbing the estimated 21 storeys to the first, then second level of the Eiffel Tower.

The climb was easy enough thanks to our Birdrock Challenge, but too many went out too hard too early and collapsed by the 5th storey……losers!!!!! Once at the first level the views were amazing and again at the second level even more so.

We managed to con a few people to take photos of the two of us before taking in the views and heading back down the stairs. As we started our descent it was tempting to tell people coming up that they were half way there when in fact they were almost at the top. The fact they wouldn’t understand me anyway made the joke pointless so we just descended the stairs and made our way to the Arc de Triomphe, missing the flea market altogether.

 

The Arc de Triomphe is a very impressive structure which gives you views all the way down the Champs Élysées to The Louvre. After the customary photos of each other we then headed down the Champs Elysse to take in the sights. Half way down we stumbled across a McDonalds and decided to take the plunge with a McCafe coffee. No surprise, we should have kept walking as the French insist on pouring the milk first and the coffee last, making for a pretty ordinary coffee but an improvement on yesterday’s diabolical attempt.

Next stop for me on the Champs Elysees was the toilet and was surprised to find it came at a price of €2. Not one for missing an opportunity to find out what you get for your €2, I paid my money and entered what can only be described as a shrine to toilets. I could buy an assortment of toilet paper, lids, dunny brushes etc in all sorts of colours. Not to be distracted I headed into my cubicle, once I was called, and discovered the pinkest, cleanist toilet I have ever seen. €2 well spent I say!! Dutifully relieved we then headed off to the famous Galleria for some shopping. This is where Hugh and I departed for an hour before meeting up again. I was looking for a trenchcoat whilst Hugh was looking for shoes. I found some of the most beautiful trenchcoats before discovering I was in Burberry and not being surprised at the €1000 price tags which is almost $2000 Aus dollars. Suffice to say I came away empty handed as did Hugh.

We left the Galleria and shopped at a couple of stores and finally found a pair of shoes for Hugh. These were not in the colour he desired but he settled for them anyway as they were on special for €90 and he was desperate for a new pair.

We headed home for some time in the apartment before heading out to dinner. On our way out we found a shoe store that stocked the same shoes that Hugh bought only to find they had the colour he wanted at a price that was $35 cheaper, argghhhhh!!! I know every girl out there shares Hugh’s pain.

As I dragged him away we found a lovely cafe to sit by the side of the road and enjoy our last night in Paris, people watching and eating the local fare. It is easy to distinguish the tourists from the Parisians as we dress so differently. After dinner we headed back to our room to grab the camera and a bottle of bubbles and head back to the Eiffel Tower to toast Paris for one last time.

Watching the Eiffel Tower as the sun sets amongst the many Parisians that joined us on the lawn was a truly memorable moment. As too were the many hawkers that continually passed by offering Champagne, smokes, beer etc ad nauseam. But wait, there’s more, as darkness descends upon Paris out come the illuminated Eiffel Tower replicas, just in case you missed being offered one during the day. For the last 5 minutes of the night the Eiffel Tower has a light show where numerous lights flicker across the tower and makes for a great end to a fabulous night.

Many cheers from the crowd at the end and the pace is deserted within 10 minutes. It is 11pm after all and we finally got to see Paris at night. Train ride home was bearable as the trains were not too packed and the photos Hugh took turned out great as you can see from the samples he has attached to this blog.

Off to Reims in the morning, Paris has been a wonderful city to spend the last 5 days in and we are very much looking forward to the Champagne District that awaits us tomorrow. Au Revoir xx.