Day 3 in Paris

The first thing on our list of things to do on last day in Paris was to climb the Eiffel tower. In an effort to avoid the crowds we set off on via metro early. Having swapped " how sore are our feet" stories most of the way there we were dismayed to find the elevator line already massive on arrival.

Resorting to the much shorter "stairs" queue we braced ourselves for the climb. With a big head start due to Andy being turned away at the gate for packing a knife (WTF!) Michelle & Ippo had already reached the 2nd level before Andy & I got to the 1st. Once there we witnessed a very romantic young guy propose to his girlfriend with a gigantic solitaire. After taking their first "we're engaged" photos for them we met up with the girls who had by then been to the top and back. Armed with great photos of the magnificent views, TShirts, postcards and swollen ankles we all climbed down together & walked along the picturesque River Seine to the metro station that would take us to the highly anticipated catacombs.

The packed train was made all the more entertaining by the piano accordion playing buskers but once at the Catacombs site we were again faced by a queue stretching around the block. We coped with this by playing tag teams; 2 went to the pub, 2 waited in line - swap & repeat!

The catacombs affected each of us differently. They were interesting, creepy, morbid & I thought terribly sad. I think a visit to Auschwitz might evoke a similar feeling and I couldn't wait to get out if there. The bodies of 6 million Parisian souls unceremoniously dumped in the ancient disused quarries beneath the city then decoratively rearranged in the 18th century in rows of skulls and femurs as decreed by some guilt ridden priest! Now an attraction for the paying public - macabre in the extreme!

After our 2 km underground hike we lunched and got directions to our next stop; Notre dam Cathedral. Once there we were again met with massive queues so decided to give the tour a miss and concentrate on the impressive exterior only.

Exhausted from yet another huge day we limped back to the hotel and started packing. Tomorrow would see the start of the exciting next leg our our France adventure!