Up early for a run around Parc Saint Jean, the nicest part of Amiens, before finally visiting the cathedral, the 19th largest in the world, that sits on the doorstep of our accommodation.

A few photos later we packed the car for our last drive to the drop off before catching the train to Paris. It must be said, that whilst Hugh has certainly mastered the art of driving in Europe and done an exceptional job at that, there is no way any sane person outside of Paris would ever drive in Paris. Hence, au voir to our Renault which served us well for the past 12 days.

We were advised that there was no need to book our train tickets to Paris, but being the ultra organised people that we are, Hugh duly went on line and purchased 2 first class tickets, the only class available to book online, to ensure we had no mishaps.

Well, no need to have been concerned, the train we near empty and bar one person we had the carriage to ourselves. We also noted that second class was just as empty, damn could have saved ourselves €20 by NOT booking on line, oh well it was certainly comfortable.

We visited Paris 2 years ago and loved it, so we were keen to return to this fabulous city to finish our holiday and this time stay in the Marais district. Our apartment is on the first floor, phew, and we have a big shower, phew!! This might seem trivial, but we have had our fair share of lugging 20kg+ up numerous flights of stairs and at times have also attempted to have a shower in something the size of a broom closet.

Having dumped our bags we headed out in 30 degree heat whilst our apartment was being cleaned for the next 3 hours!! Our owner obviously missed the email about our 2:30pm arrival.
First stop, a beer to celebrate our arrival in Paris, then on to explore our neighbourhood.

There are always 2 options when you leave your apartment, left and right. On this occasion the decision to turn right, lead us in to some pretty seedy areas, not to mention the Paris red light district. Focus Hugh!!! I was beginning to wonder where the hell Hugh had booked us for the next 3 nights and became quite despondent with our location.

It was an easy decision to eat in tonight as nothing really appealed as we walked around for the 3 hours. Hugh was keen to venture out after dinner and head to The Seine which was roughly a 15 minute walk away.

Fortunately on our way out we bumped into the owner of our apartment and he advised us that we had in fact ventured into the next district, the Marais district is over to the left of our apartment. Phew!!!

We finally reached The Seine and the most expensive part of Paris, Ile St. Louis. We walked amongst the beautiful architecture and the very expensive shops all the while Hugh is capturing these moments on his camera, as he has done all along the way.

Whilst I thought this was the intention of our walk after dinner, Hugh was keen to visit the larger island, Ile de la Cite, so he could sit along The Seine and take photos whilst the sun was setting. This sounded like a good idea until an hour later and we are still walking and I’m starting to sound like a child, asking if we are there yet, to Hugh’s exasperated responses.

Whilst never one to shirk exercise, I was dead tired from being up early for a run, and as Amanda Thompson would attest, I need to know what we are doing so I can mentally prepare to do it, just like in PT.

Suffice to say, it was worth the walk, except for parts of the pathway along The Seine, which when exposed to 30 degree heat, have a stench that can curl your toes, especially under the bridges. Toilet anyone????

It’s great to be back in Paris.