Hotel Particulier de Montmartre Paris

... rat trap shop photos!

Later we had dinner at Chez Papa in Monteparnessee, followed by a trip to Tour Eiffel to see the lights twinkle at 10:00 pm. The only problem was that it was pouring rain!

... was even a little street with temporary shops set up with wine, caviar, and an assortment of other French delicacies. The Sacré-Coeur building was also quite nice, with its pristine white color and vantage point of Paris from the northern part of the city.

I visited the Louvre art museum on my own the next day for almost five hours. What a huge and incredible collection. My favorite collections were the Greek and Roman sculptures. Greek gods, famous Romans, the works. Huge ...

I started the day (already tired from poor sleep) by going to the Franprix (little supermaket) across the street and buying some groceries and going to our bakery to buy fresh croissants. After a little breakfast we headed out to the Trocadero which is an area across the river from the Eiffel Tower where you are supposed to get nice views of the tower. The weather was cold and rainy (again) and there weren't very many tourists around. There were however ...

... to the last row behind a curtain. And you know what? The flight was actually pleasant. What? You were expecting another Tom and Emily story? Yeah, I know. I was, too. Sorry to disappoint but I guess French children and airplanes do mix. Australian moms take note--My only inflight entertainment came from a headset and video monitor at my seat...not from some brat screeching Twinkle Twinkle Little Star over and over at 115 ...

... their car down and honk at you and make grunting noises while their belly fat spills onto the steering wheel. And they dress nicely. The women are so chic, I've never seen so many older women so elegant just walking down the street. It's very easy to romanticize Paris. I can see why it has the reputation it has. And no one mugged me, so that's a good sign, although there were some sketch people Jen and I tried to avoid. It ...

... your meal. I had wanted to go to the street market which I believe was in the general area, but I didn't make it. I walked around all over the area though. DH and I met back at the hotel at around 10 am. He had to make a business call to a guy in Italy. I didn't mind the break, since my feet were a bit tired. We had lunch at Procope (www.procope.com), the oldest restaurant in Paris, founded in 1686. It is a very pretty place. The upstairs looks like an old French ...

... was obvious this one wasn't shy, and would probably be capable of handling anything the three of us threw at her. As she insisted we produce our ID's so she could ascertain "ages" and guage our photogenic qualities, I heard Furtado in the background deliciously serving up some Maneater - it was at that moment, everything came together for me. I promptly dubbed her maneater, which we all thought was quite appropriate, though ...

... Celestamine -Anti diarrhoeal (racecadrotril) : Tiorfan -Ani emetic (domperidone) : Motilium -Antiseptic collyre (cethoxonium) : Biocidan -Antibiotic large spectre (amoxicilline) : Ciflox -Antimalarial drug( Atovaquone and Proguanil) : Malarone ( only for interventive care) -Anti-inflammatory drug : Biprofenid -Anti-spasmodic : Spasfon -A disinfecting lotion : Betadine, bandages, adhesive plaster -Anti-insects, pomade for the insect bites -A ...

... and headed to Rome. Around noon we got to the town of San Gimignano, which is a one of the cutest towns I have ever seen. The views from within the medieval walls are stunning. It's so picturesque (which I say about a lot of things, but it seems like everything on this trip was) and it's surrounded by vineyards as far as you can see. I loved stopping here. It's too bad we only had an hour or so, I could have stared out at the hills of vineyards for hours. Got some Chianti though ...

... et un américain. On a fini la soirée dans un grand groupe international aux origines multiples. Je pense que des incidents de la sorte sont sans doute l'une des choses qui me manquent le plus de mon voyage en Écosse, lorsque j'ai habité pendant 2 mois dans un hostel qui regorgeait d'australiens, de néo-zélandais, de sud-africains ou tout simplement d'européens d'un peu partout. Il va sans dire que ça ajoute une certaine richesse à l'expérience. Alors, le ...