Aaahhh two weeks in beautiful Paris, my new favourite city, what an experience!!! We stayed in a cute little apartment in Le Marais, a trendy little area in the 4eme, we were in walking distance to almost all the attractions and had a food market at the end of our street that had everything we needed…There is so much to write about, I would be here for hours if I was to tell you everything. I'm going to give you a random list of highlights in no particular order:

• We saw an Aussie band play (Radio Birdman) on the first night we arrived
• Shopped at the food markets for fresh food and cooked in my little apartment
• Walking tour of the city with a brief history lesson (awesome, would recommend it to anyone)
• Getting lost in the streets and stumbling across amazing parks, shops and buildings
• Climbing up the Arc de Triomphe and seeing the city at sunset & walking the Champs Elysee
• Climbing the Sacre Couer to see amazing views of Paris
• Climbing the Eiffel Tower at dusk and seeing the city light up
• Strolling in the beautiful parks and people watching like there is no more important thing to do
• Eating amazing baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat and cheese (the best I have ever had)
• Eating at small cafes and tasting some amazing French food
• Having picnics in the most beautiful places that we would stumble across and have the place to ourselves
• Touring the Champagne regions and tasting champagne
• Watching the Rugby on a huge screen at Hotel de Ville (a stroll from where we were staying) and watching the France vs NZ in a small tapas bar full of French people and being the only one cheering NZ
• The Louvre
• Listening to Julie and Jean Marie sing at trendy little Paris bars (mixing it with the locals)

Now I will tell you about the perfect afternoon we had in Paris…..Julie and Jean Marie (our local buddies) met us at our apartment in the afternoon on their bikes. We took off, with Kirb doubling me side saddle and Jean Marie doubling Julie through the busy streets of Paris. First stop was Laduree, a little patisserie famous for their macaroons, for some takeaway desserts which were packaged up in a fancy small box for us. We then took on the eight chaotic lanes of traffic on the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysee, I thought I was going to get hit by a car, but we closed our eyes and followed our trusty captain Jean Marie. Cars were interesting enough to deal with but when there are buses and taxis and scooters in the one lane the fear is heightened and Kirb's skills are put to the limit…We cruised alongside the Seine and made our way to the small island in the river for some gelato, which was delightful and ended in me and Jean Marie fishing the waste bin for his keys which we ended up finding…. We took off again on our trusty treadlies for the 14eme (Jean Marie's stomping ground, very trendy) to a rustic little traditional French bistro for some dinner. We sampled the escargots in a buttery, garlic sauce and each had a huge warm salad. By this stage it was 9pm so we headed back to base and stopped for a coffee and to eat our macaroons that were purchased earlier in the day….I have never had anything like it, they were fantastic!!! I will be hunting for some when I get home or learn how to make them myself. It was great having Julie and Jean Marie to take us under their wing and show us the real Paris!! Thanks you guys and see you in Oz so we can return the favour!!!