Paris - Turns it on

Well today was our day to explore Paris. We woke up and looked out the window and could not see the houses in the next street. Fog had set in and it looked like it was going to be a very gloomy day.

Since we are on a time budget, we headed out anyway and went to see what we could see. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. We again caught the Metro, which is a piece of cake now. It was only a few stops before we hit the tower. We followed the crowds, as we couldn't see the Tower yet. As soon as we came around the corner - Boom - there she was. Well there was the bottom half of her. And the bit that we could see was incredible enough. She is much bigger than either of us imagined. We found a coffee & a pastry and found a seat to sit and enjoy the beauty of the fog clearing slowly.

Next we went to find the open roof bus tour. We now figure this is the best way for us to see most of the big cities given that we have no idea where we are going and what anything is.

Took heaps of photos again while driving around. Went past all the big sights and eventually hopped off at the Louvre for a wander around. By this time the fog had finally cleared and we were left with a beautiful blue sky over Paris.

The Louvre was another great place to see given its recent publicity. We took a walk over the river and then along the banks up to Notre Dame where we saw our first bag snatch - our security measure tightened up after that - even though we were already being extremely careful.

We wandered around for the rest of the day, and hopped off and on the bus a couple more times.

We finished the day by taking a walk from the Grand Palais, which looks down over the Eiffel base. Grabbed some french fries with mayonnaise :) and took a seat to watch the sun go down and the lights come on.

It was about 9:30pm by the time it was done and we decided to head back home as we are both sick now and in need of some sleep.

Today we wander around Paris for a bit and then tonight we get our first overnight train to Rome. We have made a change to our trip and won't be seeing Switzerland - we are disappointed but we need a couple of nights in one spot to try and recooperate a bit.

Hope you enjoy the pics of Paris

Love to all

Phil & Nic