Bonjour Paris!

We started the day early to say Bon voyage to Ray and Lyn as they too embarked on their next section of their journey to mainland Europe! After packing up, having breakfast, we made our way to St Pancras Street station to board the Eurostar train to Paris.

The train ride was really smooth and really relaxing. We had a bit of ear popping action as we came out of a few tunnels. Coming out of the main tunnel and seeing the French countryside was exciting.

Finding our apartment was really easy! The Paris Metro system is really simple to navigate. Colour coding rocks! Why does Melbourne Met System have to be sooooo crap? No wonder we are a city geared to driving our cars!

We got to the apartment a little early, so we had some delicious toasted bagels and got to use our first bit of French! Wow, what an awesome location. It is basically next to the Louvre and is walking distance to all the main sites.

At 3pm in the afternoon, we decided to go out on an exploration of the surrounding area. We headed towards the Arc starting in Jardin des Tuileries (gardens that join Concorde and Champs-Élysées). This park is great to sit, chill and take in the fresh air.

We walked all the way up the Champs-Élysées, which was absolutely packed with people of all varieties. One thing we noticed, was the huge level of smokers and ash that seemed to be getting in our lungs.

We did the climb to the top of the Arc De Triomph, which gave us a magnificent view of the city and the crazy driving at the main roundabout below. It was chaotic and apparently the only place in France that hire car companies stay away from! No insurance given!

We took a leisurely stroll back down the Champs Élysées and had a 'must do' dinner (even amongst the ash) to tick it off the bucket list. Meals: Tanya - Steak tartare (first time, but lovely), Richard - chicken stuffed with veg with a black truffle sauce and mash. Needless -to-say, tomorrow night's dinner won't be in the tourist trap area with the tourist trap prices!

We took the scenic road back, with a cheeky supermarket run, then back for a much needed deserved rest! We love our place, very nice, other than being on the fifth floor (73 steps, but no one is counting) with no elevator. Oh well, the extra exercise is appreciated (obviously Tan speaking, not Rich)!