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Yesterday was our last day in Paris but with the change in time, the head cold that Brodie is suffering from and a general tiredness we decided a Sunday sleep in was required. We headed out to Le Marais late morning with our first stop being St Paul to visit Le musee Picasso. Unfortunately, what we didn't know was that it was an open day and so everyone was queuing up for free entry. With a 30 - 45 minute wait we decided to skip it - very disappointing as I was really looking forward to re-visiting the museum and I'm sure Jonathan and the kids would have enjoyed it too.
Instead, we wandered through the Marais to Place des Vosges, such a beautiful square, where I bought a small painting. We then headed for rue des Rosiers for the best falafel and donee kebabs ever. Brought back many happy memories of Lisa and I doing exactly the same thing, except for the crowds of people again. On Sunday's they make a lot of central Paris pedestrian and bike only which makes for a very enjoyable wander around but everyone else is doing exactly that so very busy!
Jonathan stumbled on a very trendy shirt shop so bought himself a shirt and of course we couldn't pass the creepiest ands without the kids getting a Nutella crepe each!
On to the Centre Pompidou where we admired the Stravinsky fountain - my favourite modern fountain which has survived the test of time and still looks great with its spinning colourful statues and then into the centre Pompidou to take the escalator up to the 6th floor to admire the view. I can't say Pompidou has survived the test of time, it's still as ugly as ever as well as looking rather tired. You do get a great view from the top though - Notre Dame, les Invalides, Le Tour Eiffel, Opera, St Eustache, Sacre Coeur.....
Final stop for the day was Pont Neuf where we caught a river cruise up to Le Tour Eiffel and back down past Ile St Louis. So nice to relax and watch everything go by - our feet are pretty tired... Paris is definitely the city to walk around as there is so much to see but the distances can be long. The kids have done an amazing job of keeping up with the pace and taking it all in. From now on things will be a bit more relaxed and having the car will certainly help.
When we return to Paris at the end of the month we'll have 1 - 2 days to do the last few things on our list ; musee d'Orsay, musee Picasso and Sacre Coeur. We also might see if we can do a bike tour which another kiwi family told us about when we were in the queue for the Eiffel Tower - www.bikeabout.com
Today we are off to Brest in Brittany, a 4.5 hour train ride where we will meet up with Claude and Alain. Really looking forward to seeing them as we haven't seen them since our wedding!
- comments
Joanie I am so envious of you all - Paris would be my favourite city - I am loving your Blog - keep it up. Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy.
Kirsten Say a big hello to Claude and Alain from us. Good to hear you're enjoying plenty of french cuisine - just read Sophie's post. Yum!!