WANDERINGS

Final installment of my French break (just in time for my next little trip) - Paris!

After a weekend in Auxerre we headed for Paris (click here for a map) on Monday morning, arriving around 11am. After dropping our luggage at the hotel we went to Notre Dame cathedral on the Ile de la Cite, the old heart of Paris - no sightings of Quasimodo though!

We wandered along the banks of the Seine before taking a boat trip along the river, seeing some of the main sights - the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, the Conciergerie etc.. It's a relaxing way to see the City, gently gliding along the river, watching the city pass by.

After our afternoon exertions we stopped in a cafe for coffee before Rory had to head to the airport and I went off for a photo walk - the others were going to the Moulin Rouge that night but I didn't want to go so I took the time to visit the City at night and see the main monuments lit up - the Eiffel Tower which sparkles for 10 minutes on the hour every hour! The sparkles were created to celebrate the Millenium and removed at the end of 2000. So many people complained that they had to reinstate the sparkles and I am so glad that they did because it looks amazing. I walked under the tower and then away from the tower up to the Trocadero where I was confronted by lots of Scotsmen in kilts and bagpipe playing - a surreal sight next to the Eiffel Tower. The reason for all these Scotsmen - a football match, qualifying for the European Cup - France v Scotland - Scotland beat France 1-0 for the first time in France for 57 years - it was a big deal!! But bagpipes with the Eiffel Tower behind was weird! If you click on the picture on the right below you may just see some kilties!

I wandered to the Champs Elysees and down along the banks of the Seine to Notre Dame - taking photos at night without shoogling the camera is quite difficult - but some of the mistakes are quite interesting!!

Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early and as I had decided to spend the day alone (all my other friends having never been to Paris before wanted to do lots of touristy things and I just wanted to wander) I set off on a walk and walked and walked and walked - I went to the Jardins des Tuileries, the Pantheon, Ile St Louis, the Marais district with it's quirky shops and the Place des Vosges, one of the most beautiful squares in Paris, then onto the Pompidou Centre (which was of course closed as it was Tuesday) and then to the grand department stores of Paris - Galeries Lafayette, Au Printemps and Le Bon Marche before heading back to the hotel to collect my bags and head for the airport - tired but happy!

Here's a few of the photos that I took on my wanders - some will be noticeably Paris, other are just quirky!