I’d like to say we were up and at it today, making the most of the beautiful weather, but, non…we slept in. Oh, and Rachael was very keen on checking out the washing machine.

So, a bit slow out of the blocks, but finally after croissants we headed towards the river Seine. We wandered past a flea market then on to Jardin du Palais Royal, a typically structured park lined with elegant trees, brushed stone paths and a lovely central pond with water feature, surrounded by Parisians reading and relaxing.

Rachael does Parisian quite well!

On to the Palais Royal with confusing queues, and a fancy metro entrance,

Past the Louvre, with spectacular dressage posing,

…and ridiculous(ness) from those that should know better!

Past the little Arc de Triomphe thingy, with the quick entry to the Louvre on each side which no one uses…

…past a naked women or two!

…and first port of call, on Cards recommendation, is Musée de l’Orangerie which houses works of art from Monet with his water lilies, thru to Renoir, Picasso, Matisse and others of the impressionist and modern classicism school.

The whole collection, outside the huge Monet’s, was donated to the state by an art dealer and collector, Paul Guillaume and his wife, Jean Walter.

It’s hard to imagine the wealth that has been bequeathed; its an incredible gift to Paris.

The museum is reasonably small, so navigated within an hour or so, and well worth the visit, with some beautiful works of art from some of the leading lights of the late 1800’s to early mid 1900’s.

We strolled down the Seine, and over to the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais opposite. I only post this photo of Winston Churchill in front of the Petit Palais because it took about 10 minutes to take, courtesy of a lovely looking elderly Chinese tourist, who stood in front of Winnie for most of said 10 minutes taking selfies from every conceivable angle. So exhausted was she from her photographic pursuits, that she needed to rest on a park bench close by afterwards, capturing her exhaustion with a few more selfies for the collection!

Here ’tis…

I’d love to tell you the Grand Palais was spectacular, and it is from the outside, but at €35 each to check it out we bailed.

We retraced our footsteps back to our apartment for a regroup before meeting Amanda & Paul for a ‘ lonely guide’ artist tour of Montmartre.

Montmartre is an old bohemian artist colony, high on the hill with Sacré Cœur as it’s needle point, but is mainly taken over now by tourist cafes and gentrification.

Still, the metro still has its old signs, and there is still a charm about the place, especially when our lovely guide, Amanda, directs us to places of interest.

First stop, the love wall, 230 plus ways to say “je t’aime”.

Onwards, and upwards, with some street art…

…and some friendly artist advice!

Up more hills…

…beautiful old cafes,

The oldest, and only existing vineyard in Paris,

Man climbs out of wall!

Oh dear, artist and disciple!

On to the beautiful, ethereal Sacre Cœur…

With magnificent views from the tower…

Then on to dinner on the hill, with the cathedral as our watch keeper!

A great finish to a special day with very special friends to share it with.