Arc Elysee Paris

... the metro to Sacre Couer which is the beautiful church perched high on the hill of Montmartre overlooking Paris. We climbed up the steps and reached the church along with the hoards and looked at the interior but we declined to go up to the tower for a fee. Outside was a mass of people and we wandered down the hill abit where we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel tower through the trees. it was hot and sunny so we wandered back down to the area of Montmartre and kept ...

... some of our ancestors. Unfortunately we have grown accustomed to the Parisian lifestyle.... crepes, baguettes, pastries and paying to use "les toilettes". Aimee has had to tear Bruce out of all of the pastry shops. He must be part French - he's finally found people who love food as much as he does!! We've had a wonderful time in Paris. Ola, Portugal here we come.

... music (thankfully I have my iphone), even the reading lamp was out. To top it off we had frequent heavy turbulence and my seat wasn't bolted all the way down so it rocked with even the slightest movement. There was one very good thing about the flight though. The guy sitting next to me during the flight (sound asleep until we landed I might add) is a ...

Today I slept in a little to try to catch up more than I had been able to up until then, and then took to the road again, heading to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gorisse who live in France just across the Belgian border. This is the area where the front-line trenches ran during WWI, and their bucolic little village was occupied by the Germans through most of the war. The actual front line of WWI ran only ...

... Dame. He was decapitated because he preached the gospel. The legend goes that he kept preaching even after the decapitation. Not only that he walked for many a kilometers preaching. This all happened where Notre Dame is now. He is now the patron saint of France. Rick Steves is good for some things. After that I swing by the L'arc de Triomph and also see the Eiffel from afar. I get home have dinner and spend some time with the extended family. By 11pm I am done and exhausted.

(Cold Play - and a jolly fine album it was...) In the end it only cost 6 euros at the Swatch shop for a new battery to fix my watch. But a rush of blood to the head nearly had me paying 99 euros for a new watch in an absolutely charming watch-shop on the Ile St. Louis this morning. A whole shop of stunningly stylish watches like we never see in Melbourne. In fact, this city has shops selling so many things that are unlike ...

... from the Beauvais Airport at 14:25 and it is about an hour and half outside of Paris. We have to take a bus, which means I have one more day left on my Eurail Pass. I will have to figure out how to use it. Luckily though, this pass paid itself off before I even arrived to Amsterdam earlier this week. I am so glad I bought it. Thanks to Mom and Dad for sending it so quickly! Our only worry is our hostel. They have a check-in window from 3 to 6, which we think is ridiculous, and if you ...

... appealing so I just kept walking and walking trying to find something that interested my appetite, and my wallet. Before I knew it I had walked to the Arc de Triomphe and back to Champs-Elysées, and ended up back at Planet Hollywood, oh ya one thing I saw this time that I didn't last, actually 2 things, they have the Hoverboard from 'Back to the Future 2' and they have the Blue Power Ranger hanging from the ceiling wearing the actual costume, except one glove is ...

... aware of the dog ***** that Parisians refuse to pick up, (***** of the dog variety make the line up to get into the Eiffel Tower much shorter however)
You will be in line for a long time, and if your lucky enough you will be allowed to the top, I was and the veiw is spectacular. I highly recommend that if you get to Paris you get up the Tower,
I had a fantastic time in Europe.

... an entire bottle or two of great champagne, smoking politically incorrect cigarettes, and listening to cheesy French music. I've often thought that we inherently know when something is good for us: we drink orange juice when we have a cold, we sleep when our bodies are tired; we eat bananas when we have muscle cramps. Is the mind any different than the body? The mind points us in a direction that may hold the answer to our questions - to a place that may offer a solution ...