So this is it... the trip finally has come to an end. It seems like the 2 months has gone by fast-yet slow at the same time. Now, as we spend our last 6 days in Paris, when we look back at the beginning of the trip which started in Portugal it feels like 6months has gone by with everything thats happened since then. Our stay in the city of love started off with us arriving the evening of Wednesday Nov.20 at the Gare de Lyon station (we took a highspeed 4hr train from Zurich that cost around $100each) The hostel we were staying at was in the Bastille area in the city district. The hostel was definitely nothing special, which was kind of disappointing, but it was the cheapest place we found (everything in the city center of Paris was very pricey and ones we liked we already booked) and it was in a pretty good location. It was either a 15min walk to the Seine river or a quick 5-10min ride on the metro depending on the desired stop. We did much of both during our stay. The first day we walked all along the Seine, stopping at popular sites like Notre Dame,which is celebrating 850 years of existence, and the "Pont De Artes" or "LOVE-LOCK" bridge as I say (probably our favorite thing about Paris). We almost walked all the way to the Eiffel Tower but it started to rain and was already very cold out so we popped into one of the various brasseries to warm up and try our first "French" Onion Soup (which turned out to be just ok) We had to rush back to the hostel though because of some inconveniences they caused (which is a long story). So, we just spent the rest of the first night at an Irish pub nearby. We had a great time though and ironically this pub turned out to be the only place in Paris (that we stopped in) to carry one of my favorite beers which happens to be French-Kronenbourg Blanc. Oh and I have to mention the gypsies...which is unfortunately the worst thing about paris which almost ruins the experience for tourists. They prey on tourists and are extremely aggressive and approach you at the major sites in packs (like wolves). They come from Romania & Bulgaria ( reasearched it) and are known as "Roma gangs"..... The second day we set out to see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, and Champ de Elysesses (which had a lovely 2mile Christmas Market set up) We were very impressed with the Eiffel of course- but did not go to the top. I remember from my first time in Paris- that I was very scared because it is hardly enclosed. We had our first crepes while here too (nutella and banana-yummm) Saturday we spent at a Scottish pub to watch the RLWC games (NZ vs. England and Aus vs. Fiji) the place was packed throughout both games and we had a lot of fun (Im already getting very into Rugby thanks to Andrew and I have to prepare for Australia!) Sunday we went to the Monmarte district to see Sacre Cour and Moulin Rouge. Sacre cour- bad neighborhood but nice on top- very impressive itself- although we were surprised to see that they let hundreds of tourists through while mass was going on. The rest of Monmarte was very nice (very crowded with tourists though so it was hard to walk through the narrow streets). I found the Moulin Rouge to be overrated, in a ghetto area & overpriced (shows start at 180euro per person) But I'm glad we saw it to get a picture ;) On Monday (our last full day) we walked to the Jardin de Luxembourg from St. Michel Square- then walked to the Louvre and Arc de Triumph to spend the night in that area to see it all lit up (which was beautiful and so much better than during the day - minus the cold). We walked all along the Christmas market; I finally tried hot wine which we saw everywhere all over Europe. It tastes like warm Sangria (without the fruit). The Eiffel is absolutely gorgeous at night except for when the tacky sparkly light show happens - which is every hour.... Tuesday we had a nice lunch out at another brasserie and tried escargot (delicious) before heading to the airport to begin our long journey back to Andrews homeland Australia...... And that's all folks!!! :) P.S. Enjoy our video of us putting our lock on the "love lock bridge" ;)