We had great seats on the Eurostar - the four of us sitting around a little table (well done me!) The journey was good, we even managed to snooze a bit - we are all feeling a little sleep-deprived at this point!
We arrived at Gare du Nord and immediately caught the metro to Trocadero. (I had pre-bought Paris Visite travel cards and Batobus tickets, makes life so much easier especially when time is of the essence) The views across to the Eiffel Tower were stunning.
We then found a pretty little path
that we followed down to the Pont d'lena bridge and across to the tower. We took loads of photos but didn't go up the tower, unfortunately time was just too short.
on the Pont d'lena bridge
We then went down to the dock and boarded a Batobus - a water taxi that follows a circular route with 8 stops. It was our first time using the Batobus and I loved it!
Jackie would have loved it too!
We hopped off at the Notre Dame stop.
We immediately made our way to the Pont de l'Archeveche bridge.
This bridge is FULL of locks, put there by couples declaring their undying love.... so romantic! Paula and Cal had their lock ready and soon it was added to the 100s of others already there.
We wandered over to Notre Dame, had a look at this beautiful cathedral and then found a little restaurant in a nearby alley for a suitably French lunch. Cal and I had Croque Monsieur, Grant decided on Quiche Lorraine and Paula had a delicious French Onion Soup.
After lunch we made our way back to the Batobus and caught it as far as the Louvre. We got out and walked over to the Louvre, got a photo of Cal infront of the pyramid
and then ambled through the Tuilleries Gardens as far as the obelisk.
We saw some cute little tuk-tuk vehicles and decided that we just HAD to catch one to the Arc de Triomphe. It was so much fun haring up the Champs Elysee in this funny little tuk-tuk.
We got out at the Arc, had a look around, marvelled at the crazy traffic circling the arch and then wandered a little way back down the Champs Elysee, ogling the fancy shops...and sports cars.
Interestingly, we popped into a huge, intimidating (well it was to me), optical store to ask if they could repair the nose-piece on Paula's glasses - they did so, never charged us a cent and fed us a couple of their sweets too!
We popped into a restaurant for a St Berthillon ice-cream - something I've wanted to try for years, having read rave reviews - quite honestly it was very expensive and, frankly, I've had better.
Next we hopped in a metro to Blanche station in Montmartre and took some photos outside the Moulin Rouge...
We caught the little train to Place du Teatre.
We had a lovely wander around ...
before catching the furnicular down to the Abessess area,
where we had a fun supper in a small restaurant. Cal tried an escargot starter for the first time (can't remember what he ate for mains? Was it steak Cal? I remember I stole your chips!)
and Paula ate a Pierrade de filet de poulet - basically a hot rock of chicken fillet.
Grant and I opted for the Plat du Jour - the menu of the day, with a choice of starter, main and dessert - it was lovely. Finally we made our way to the "I love you" wall.
We always seem to do the same things in Montmartre, but there is so much more that I want to do there, one day I plan to spend a whole weekend in Montmartre and do everything else that this charming place has to offer!
Finally it was time to catch the metro back to Gare du Nord and the Eurostar back to London.
Those smiles didn't last for long because our transfer back to our hotel was terrible! The driver was completely useless and took us back by the worst possible, most congested route. I was really irate as by this time we were all exhausted and it was close to midnight.
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