Absolute Paris

Well hello everyone from gay Pareeeeeeee! We arrived early this morning and are feeling tre chic and very French!

Now i`ll apologise in advance - the French keyboard is TOTALLY different to what i am used to (who puts the a on the top row, really!), but ill muddle through as best i can.

As with most travel days, it began early - up before the sun on the M1 to Heathrow - many thanks Aunty Sue for getting up on her Sunday and dropping us off! Check in was a breeze (did a sneaky ch...

Well another day has passed - our final full day in Paris and the last real holiday day before the long slog home begins!

An early start this morning - taking us back to the days of London! Brekkie was croissants and bread rolls with jams and some museli. Then out into the fresh Parisian air!

Our first stop? The Louvre museum, home to one of the finest collections of art - it's so big and has so much stuff to check out it would aparently take 9 months to see everything if you ...

Kelly and I took a 7am flight from Madrid to Paris and arrived safely, with no rushing to the airport in Madrid, we woke up with time to spare :) So once we got to Paris, we took the subway and looked at the directions on how to get to our hostel from Kelly's blackberry. The directions started out okay, but pretty soon we found ourselves running in circles (luggage in hand) STILL unable to find the hostel. So we decided to call the hostel and ask for directions. That part worked out fine unti...

Once again, amazing was mom's word of the day. I thought Rome was a big city... times that by about two and you have Paris. There is no way we could see it just by walking, as was our trusted means so far. We've become quite comfortable with the metro system, and it is definetly the easiest way to get around. We also purchased a pass from L'Open Bus, which gives us access to a bus and the batobus, which is a boat that takes you around the Seine river. We did the most obvious visit, which was ...

When do you really know the difference between a 3star hotel and a hostel? When you get up in the morning to have your shower, if there is only tepid water, you know you are not in a 3 star hotel.... Everything else about this hostel is great. Clean sheets, a bath for our room which only has 4 beds, a kitchen to use to prepare meals (although it is not well equipped and you first have to wash everything - sometimes the pots and dishes were used 2 or 3 days ago!), no lock out time, free comput...

Mom leaves in the morning. She has been looking forward to getting back to the island and enjoying her cottage- I don't blame her! She has been a great travel companion, and I'm very happy we've been able to do this trip together.... just think, how many peoples' mothers would be up for a backpacking trip through Italy and France?! It has been a great experience, and I'm not sure how I will manage without my map decipherer extraordinare! Who will make sure that I won't cross the street when I...

Today we headed off to Paris. Managed to catch a relatively early Eurostar (7:27am) so we could get here at 11am (we lost an hour at the border). First thing we did was head out for a walk around Monmatre and the Sacre Cour. Being here in summer instead of winter this time Bernie noticed a definate increase in the number of people trying to sell you things- "designer" handbags etc. Surprisingly it was worst around the Sacre Cour rather than in the centre of town. The number of steps up to the...

Up early for our first day trip out of Paris to Mont Saint Michel, a minute Island off the coast of Brittany. The train connection with the bus ran much smoother than expected and our bus driver was quite a character. He thought he was the French Karaoke king of folk music and had the overhead lights going as a stobe during the early part of our journey trying to get the group singing!! luckily he gave up quickly. Scenery was relatively similar to England though a little drier and rougher wit...

Actually got a sleep in this morning til 7am as needed to attend to some washing and phone and confirm tomorrows tour before setting out for the day. This meant we had to change the itinerary and head off to Versailles first. We managed to find the right trains etc ok. Helen found the actual building and decorations a bit over the top so headed out into the gardens fairly quickly. Marie Antoinette's Lodge and Hamlet way more interesting. Obviously very much sort after as the place to have you...

Easy day today for a change. Had booked into a day trip to the Loire Valley in a small group, very small, just one other couple. This turned out to be a great way to travel as we were picked up at our front door and were provided with entertaining commentry through out most of the day. Our guide had obviously travelled quite a bit and had a good story to tell about each of the Chateaus. I enjojed Chateau de Chanonceau the best, possibly because it was real and you could actually imagine yours...