June 16, 2023 to June 19, 2023
Paris
Friday 16th
Another big walking day. We had a food tour booked for 11 and of course there is no better way to get to the start of a walking tour than to walk and explore along the way. The day was already hot but it was nice seeing another part of the city.
Our tour guide for the day was Jay. He took us to the markets on Rue D'Aligre and got us a sampling of his favorite cheeses, tapenade's and pate. We spoke a lot about French people, customs and French history which Jay is very passionate about. He told us lots of different stories even when he played a Jedi knight at Disneyland and the funny things that happened there.
After the tour we walked back to our apartment for a rest before the 7pm tour of the Louvre. I would not normally take a tour of the Louvre but it was the only way we could guarantee tickets to get in. Even though at the start I decided we should pre book the big attraction it did not occur to me that the Louvre would have timed entry tickets. The Louvre tour was bad as predicted and we were with lots of other tour groups trying to see exactly the same items which made it very crowded. We would have been better off leaving the tour and going to see the things we wanted on our own. When the tour finished we quickly went to one of my favorite sections, the Egyptian exhibition and it was just as awe-inspiring as I remembered.
Saturday 17th
Today we headed off to the see the Monet's in the Musee de l'Orangerie. Our entrance ticket time was 12:00 so we walked over to Boulevard Saint-Germain and the the award wining boulangerie La Masion d'Isabelle. After sampling their wares we continued our walk through some of the Latin quarter. I have been receiving some pressure to replace my dirty bent cycling cap now that we are in town so when we started passing some outdoor shops we went on the hunt and found an approved replacement.
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For the evening we walked to the end of street and across to the Eglise Sant Paul-Saint Louis for a Vivaldi concert. The concert was just incredible and when Anara Khassenova sang Ave Maria it bought Kathy to tears.
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After the concert we went for a stroll to catch a water view before bed and was very surprised when the banks of the Seine were packed with people out enjoying the cool of the night. We walked along for a while, had a beer and watched the river boats go past. It was a great way to finish off the day.
Sunday 18th
Today we started with a 9:00am booking to climb the stairs at the Eiffel Tower. We caught the bus over and then cut through the lines as most other people were taking the lift up. We had the stairs to ourselves most of the way up except for the odd person taking a break from climbing.
We had some great views on the first and second level and it gave us a good feel for the layout of Paris and the places we had been visiting over the last few days. By 10:30 the terrace were getting full as all the tour buses had arrived, it was time to leave.
Red Bull was holding a cliff diving competition in to the Seine and they were setting up for the second day of competition as we walked back along the Seine. There was lots of music and sponsors booths in action.
We decided to have at least one breakfast at an expensive street side cafe in the tourist area of the tour Eiffel. It was a very pleasant place to sit and relax. The food was ok and as expected expensive.
12 pm bought us to the Musee D'Orsay, my favorite museum in Paris. After woking out the map we went to the 5th floor and looked at the Monet's, Renoir, Gaugain and others. It was crowded and all the famous painting had people pushing to the front to take a photo but well worth the visit.
We stopped at the cafe for a break and conversations soon started with the people around us, an Australian from Sydney and some people from Colorado who lived in the same area as Maddie.
After recharging the legs we headed off to the downstairs area but soon got distracted by a performance by a junior opera group in the main area of the Orsay.
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That night we rented some Lime electric bikes and road back through Paris to see the Eiffel Tower with its lights on. As we had some time to spare we stopped at the Louvre and the Arc du Triumph and then went to the Place du Trucadero to watch the light show that happens on the hour after dark.
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