Day 6 - Paris to Dijon

Well we woke up really late this morning. So late in fact, that there were very few baguette pieces left for breakfast in the hotel dining room. Outrageous! And it was only 9am! We blame Mickey Mouse for our lengthy sleep in and aching bones, as we still hadn't recovered from yesterday's action. Anyway, we checked out of our Paris hotel at about 9.15am and headed down to the Metro to catch our train to Gare de Lyon, where the TGV leaves Paris for many places, one of them - Dijon! Home of the famous Dijon mustard, blackcurrant and ginger bread!

We are renting a fabulous 17th century apartment in Dijon for a few days and the apartment owner, Coco, very kindly met us at the Dijon train station and drove us into town. She showed us the grand old apartment and facilities and then gave us a very quick tour of the town on foot, including rubbing the owl on the side of the church for good luck (today's stunning feature pic). Dijon really has a tremendous amount of history and is quite beautiful. The old people are nice, the young people are nice, everyone is courteous, they all value good food and good values. A far cry from city life. It is amazing.

Something else really got us going today - it was the start of the national shopping sales in France and we got caught up in the bargains. Here in France, they have sales that are SALES! Most items are 50-70% off and there are bargains everywhere - not like the pretend schmuck sales in Australia. Today Rod bought 2 shirts worth 25 euros from H&M for 5 euros. Kym bought a great trendy cardigan worth 30 euros for 5 euro (amongst many other items). So, it appears that all that room we had in our packs is starting to fill up. But at those prices, who cares?

We had dinner in our apartment tonight avec candles and soft music and also some nice red wine from Bordeaux and a plethora of cheeses. How indulgent, how romantic, how Dijonesque!

Day 5 - Disneyland Paris

Up early again today - filled up at breakfast and headed off to catch the coach we had booked to Disneyland Paris. It had rained overnight. Actually, it bucketed down around 4am. Thick, torrential, tropical rain. All that water gushing along the streets and having nowhere to go looked most impressive from our hotel window.

Fortunately for us, we still haven't encountered rain during daylight hours, only intense sunshine. It was 29 degrees here today and warm again. We decided to grab a map when we arrived at Disneyland Paris and semi-plan our trek around the park. We thought we'd start with something tried and tested- Big Thunder Mountain. So we headed there when the gates to the park opened - but the ride had closed due to a technical fault! We hopped on the Mark Twain and did the tame old paddle steamer trip around the river. Then we raced up to the Haunted Mansion and were very impressed with that exhibit.

After the mansion, we headed off to try Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril ride. Just before we got on, we read the warnings about neck and back injuries and the fact the ride does a full 360 degree turn. My goodness, we don't know how we survived that one. We couldn't walk straight afterwards. Not enjoyable at all. Rod suggested something tamer to calm the nerves, so It's A Small World was given the nod despite the hideously repetitive song that runs on a loop for the duration. We also did Star Tours, Captain EO, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Carribean and ended the day driving a 50's car around a circuit, which was hysterical (see photo).

Even more hysterical was the very camp entertainment in the main square around lunchtime. It appears that these days Mickey only speaks French and Minnie speaks English (well, American to be precise!). It was funny hearing them converse, but in too different languages.

Rod and Kym currently have no feeling in their toes, feet or legs. Far too much walking and far too much fun. A fitting way to say goodbye to Paris (for now). We'll be back here in a couple more weeks. Now it's sleep time. Bon Soir!

Day 4 - Montmartre & St-Germain des Pres & crepes

Before we set off today, we paid a visit to the famous Galeries Lafayette department store and were surprised to find an entire floor devoted to ladies' shoes. It was surreal. Kym just wanted a pair of comfortable shoes to get around in, and at a nice price. Most of the shoes on display were very nice but were not at a nice price. However, we found something to our liking and Kym is now the proud owner of a lovely pair of lilac sneakers. Lilac appears to be the new colour for summer. We are so ahead of the times people!

Once the chaussures were fitted, we bussed our way to Montmartre and climbed all of the stairs to the Sacre Coeur basilica (it was in the heat of the day too). Took some nice pics from the top of the hill and then went around to the artists' square in Montmartre. Some very talented artists at work there and some really lovely old shops too. The steep, curved cobbled streets have a certain charm. This was a favourite place of Kym's - very old world, and the village is very photogenic too!

Having completed our mission in the north of the city, we then wanted to conquer some of the south. So we navigated our way back down the hill through all the peddlars and returned to our hotel room. It was after 2pm and our room still wasn't made up (I mean really!), so we had a quick wash, change of clothes and then went to check out St-Germain des Pres and the Latin Quarter. That area was very bourgeois with leafy green boulevards and many, many eateries. Kym had her first Nutella crepe today and it was very much to her satisfaction. Could it be that Nutella crepes have surpassed pain au chocolats as Kym's preferred choice of French naughtiness? We shall have to wait and see folks.

Not much else to report today. We are saving our energy for tomorrow, when we completely change tack for a day and enjoy ourselves at Disneyland Paris (the happiest place on Earth - well, one of the many purporting to be that!).

Day 3 - Musee d'Orsay et la Tour Eiffel

Took the foot off the accelerator a little today, and that was a good thing. After we stuffed our faces at the complimentary buffet breakfast (now a morning tradition), we headed out to see if we could buy a couple of items that Kym needed in a department store. No such luck - they are all closed on a Sunday! Never mind, we will try again tomorrow. So, we caught the bus to another area of Paris we had not yet been - Montmartre, Moulin Rouge, etc. We are intending to return here tomorrow to visit the Sacre Coeur Basilica and the artists' village on top of the hill.

Our main port of call today was the Musee d'Orsay and we were completely overwhelmed by the paintings and artworks on display there. Undoubtedly the finest collection anywhere in the world. There were many Van Goghs to amuse Kym and countless Renoirs to appease Rod. We were fortunate that we had a pre-booked museum pass as the standard queue to gain entry to this museum was hours long. With our pass, we just walked right in. Also, it was another hot day (30 degrees), so we were glad to get out of the sun. Our tour of the d'Orsay was only interrupted by lunch at the cafe. Rod was very pleased that he used French entirely to order everything and even secured a table. He was very proud!

Upon leaving the d'Orsay, we headed down to the river Seine for a boat cruise. We thought it would be nice to sail along the river and gain a better appreciation of this city and, at the same time, reach the Eiffel Tower. Once at the tower, we were amazed at the sheer size of the structure and also the volume of people admiring it. Gosh, there were heaps of people. After weaving through the tourists and the street vendors, we managed to get some really nice photos of the tower. Rod even tried taking some black and white photos and they all came up really well.

We then headed back to the hotel to freshen up for a quick bite to eat in the evening. We ended up at a place called Hippopotomus! It was cheap and cheerful and full of French families. Tres amusement!

That's it for today. Tomorrow promises a proper visit to Montmartre, a little shopping and a good look through St-Germain des Pres on the left-bank. Au revoir!

Day 2 - Le Louvre et Musee de l'Orangerie

Another hot one today. 31 degrees maximum. This caused us to revise our walking plans somewhat. Our initial idea of walking around all day was exchanged for an open-air double decker bus which took us to many of the sights in Paris without all the drama. Today we did the Grand Tour, which started near our hotel in Avenue de l'Opera and then took us past the Musee du Louvre, Pont Neuf, Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Trocodero, Tour Eiffel, Hotel des Invalides and La Madeleine. There were some really great photo opportunities and we ended up with photos coming out of our photos!

We left the bus at Madeleine and ventured down through the Tuleries Gardens to our first museum stop for the day - Musee de l'Orangerie. Here we marvelled at the huge Monet waterlily paintings and many works by the great masters downstairs. This museum was well worth the visit. We then braved the heat again and strolled through the gardens heading towards the Louvre. A quick break for lunch saw us devour delicious baguettes in one of the cafes in the gardens. Rod ordered the jambon and Kym had the poulet. YUM! So good, we would happily return. Bread is so delicious and so prevalent here - French people love their bread. We can't quite work out why the French are so skinny when they are surrounded by such temptations. There are cakes, pattiseries, boulangeries, chocolat shops everywhere, yet the people remain slender. Maybe they get a lot of exercise? ;)

After lunch we headed up to the Louvre and ascended the stairs to view the obligatory Mona Lisa. There she was, flanked by a sea of people from all over the world. Rod marvelled more at the people than at the painting itself. It is an enormous museum though and we both really enjoyed a look at some of the works and objects d'art from the Renaissance and Middle Ages in a completely different section of the Louvre. The intricacy of some pieces was amazing, as was the sheer opulence and decadence of the apartments of Napolean III.

Our feet had almost given up after le Louvre, so Rod decided to get back on the bus, to save us walking all the way to Notre Dame. Big mistake! The bus got caught in a major traffic jam caused by traffic being re-routed for a Gay Pride March happening tonight. The bus was exceedingly hot and oppressive. Eventually we made it to Notre Dame and took some photos of the exterior and gave the interior a miss. We were fed up with queues (and the number of people there) at this point, so we decided to walk back to the hotel. Along the way we came across the Pompidou Centre - the museum housing modern art here in Paris. It is a kind of inside-out building with a lot of what you would normally see hidden inside a building actually featured on the outside. Even the escalators are on the exterior. We had a quick look here and then walked what seemed like miles back to the hotel. A shower and/or bath helped the healing process upon arrival at our hotel.

Looking back, we really covered a lot of ground today - perhaps a little too much, but it was well worth it.

Day 1 - Arrival in Paris

Well, we made it! Yay for us! The flight over here was quite long and arduous. Although we really enjoyed the flight into Paris on the new A380 Airbus, there is nothing you can do to stop those children screaming and pushing their feet into your seats along the way. Apart from that, it was also a struggle to get some decent sleep on the flight - we had hoped to get more than about two hours between us. We watched a few movies, including a very funny French one "Day Off" and arrived in Paris at about 6.35am - from that moment we started to really enjoy ourselves. We collected our luggage and found the Air France bus to the city with very little trouble, drawing upon my extensive French language skills - lol. Kym reckons that although Rod's French may not be totally A1, it is his convincing accent that leads people to believe that he maybe fluent. This is a problem - as he needs them to speak slowly in order for him to understand them. They soon realise he is an imposter!

Anyhow, we digress. Deeming it far too early to check-in at around 8am, we decided to take a leisurely walk to our hotel and take in a few of the sights along the way. Mention should be made that Kym's luggage weighed in at an extraordinarily low 5.2 kilograms at Tullamarine - even the check-in attendant questioned it. Wow - she is such an experienced packer!! Rod thinks it was deliberately done in order to stuff all her shopping into her bags on the way back!! We viewed the Arc de Triomphe, walked along the whole length of the famous Champs Elysees, walked right around the Place de la Concorde and inspected the world-heritage-listed Jardin des Tuillieres - where we rested for a good while (see pic) and composed our thoughts. A really lovely spot. Then we checked into our hotel and had a well deserved shower. Gee it was good. The sun is pouring down on us here at the moment and, having come from our lovely Melbourne winter, it is a shock to our system to find ourselves sweating. We feel we are running on empty though now, so we are going to catch a few zeds and hopefully wake up a little more "with it" in a couple of hours, ready to tackle some more of this truly great city.

Preparing to leave

Well the time has come and I am today finalising our itinerary plans. Honey the wonderdog has been assisting me. As you can see, she has been a great help!

This groovy photo is one that I took with our new camera, the Canon G11 (manual on the coffee table next to the Lonely Planet book of France). A black and white photo perfectly capturing the hustle and bustle of our Port Melbourne headquarters. It is here that guidebooks have been read and re-read, web-pages trawled and some sort of itinerary planned for our ensuing trip.

More details as they come to hand. Thanks for reading!