This morning I had a sleep in and then went for a big, long walk (attempting to avoid the inevitable French weight gain!) to the Château de Vincennes, which is just near the park we went to on Friday, and a little over an hours brisk walk away. The tracks along the roads (which actually go through the Bois de Vincennes) are really good with bike lanes and people lanes, and heaps of people ride bikes (with no helmets of course!) and run/walk in the gardens so it was a nice long walk. I found a gorgeous bakery in the suburb just next to the Château and bought some chocolate macarons (they had the price as per kilo.... it was 6,300 euros per kilo!) but luckily they are light so it only costs 2 euros for three! I also indulged in a chocolate cake with meringue in the middle... yummy!! This may have been my breakfast.... but in my mind the walk cancelled it out ;) It was boiling hot though, I got home at eleven thirty and was covered in sweat!

Then I had a nice long shower :) in the afternoon Aurore had a little birthday party (her birthday was on the Friday before I arrived) with only 5 of her friends as well as Jeanne for Louis, so it was a nice size (especially for a small house!)

They have a blow up swimming pool (with only a foot pump to blow it up!) so they all brought their bathers and played in that for ages, so it was nice to sit in the sun (it was even hotter now!) and watch them. I did buy some sunscreen though, as even though the sun isn't very strong (compared to at home) it was putting out some serious heat yesterday! So far not even a hint of redness though!

Then Jeanne stayed for a sleepover, and I went to meet Edith and Jette in Paris for some drinks by the Seine :) We bought some macarons, dip and biscuits and some 2 euro a bottle sparkling wine! Alcohol here is so cheap compared to Australia - not just the French wine and champagne (Moet is only the equivalent of $40 a bottle!) but spirits are nearly half the price as well! Jette and Edith were complaining about how expensive it is here (apparently in Germany and Italy it is 2/3rds of the price of in France!) which makes our prices seem so ridiculous!

We sat by the river, just under Notre Dame... a very popular thing to do, as you can drink on the street in France, so the river is lined with people eating and drinking, it was beautiful! We saw three weddings go past on boats, as well as countless dinner boats that actually looked quite nice! A bird flew past and pooed on my leg! Luckily I had bare legs as it was so hot, so could just wipe it off and cover myself in aquium! But it also landed in our dip, so we had to ditch that!

There were skaters (as in rollerbladers) performing up on the bridge, and they kept running down the stairs for cigarette breaks, while still wearing their rollerblades, I was impressed as they are really steep, narrow steps!!

Then the girls' friend Lena (also German) came and met us with her boyfriend, and they were both really nice. But then the clouds that had gathered finally cracked (after a wonderful show of lightening!) and we got soaked and had to run for cover! It was so nice being out late at night in Paris (magical!) but also so much atmosphere, not drunk people running around, but people eating and drinking in restaurants and wandering the streets, so it felt very safe! Then they showed me their favourite crepe place (I had banana and nutella! - you are probably starting to see why everyone gets fat when they come to France!) and then we found a spot out of the rain to enjoy them :)

I have mastered the metro! It is incredibly easy to use, once you have a map, because there are signs everywhere telling you which way to go, and it is really quick and easy to just pop around from place to place :)

I caught the metro home at around 12:30, and it was packed with people (not all drunk people either) which was good, as it felt very safe, and the metro station is in the street next to the house so it is a two minute walk (in a big and well lit street) home so it feels much safer being out at night in Paris than it does in Launceston!