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We are flying to Paris this morning on a 9.15am flight, which means being up very early!! The taxi was arranged to pick us up at 6.30am, Sheila and Sharon arrived just after 6.00am but we already had a drama happening because Bonnie, Maris and John's dog had ripped one of her claws out. A couple of quick phone calls to the dog sitter, fixed the problem and we were all soon under way on our family trip to Paris and the dog on her way to the vet with the dog sitter.
Birmingham was wet and cold and we flew up into thick cloud but by the time we were flying over France the cloud was thinning and it was warm beautiful sunshine just over an hour later when we touched down in Paris.
It was good to be greeted by a cheerful driver to take us to our hotel, don't think I could ever drive in Paris the traffic is horrendous they all seem slightly mad, crosswalks don't seem to mean anything and you certainly take your life into your hands when you dare to put a foot on one!!
We were soon settled in our rooms at Hotel Fertel Maillot about a 10 minute walk from the Arc de Triomphe and The Champs - Elysees. Not a bad hotel, beds comfy bathrooms quite large by Paris standards and the staff are excellent.
So after arranging for the six of us to meet back in the foyer in half an hour - Paris here we come!!! We decided to try our skills catching the Metro (underground train system) to the Trocadero and Eiffel Tower we found it easy to work out which train goes where, it certainly saves a lot of walking.
The Trocadero still seems an amazing structure with its ornate carvings, statues and water gardens, it was lovely and warm as we slowly meandered around looking in wonder at the beautiful architecture. We crossed the river to the Eiffel Tower, craning our necks at this magnificent lofty structure. The queues were long to go up the tower, so we thought we would carry on walking down the Parc du Champs de Mars to the Musee de Invalides, where the gold domed roof of Napoleon's tomb is. Walking through the gardens was lovely in the spring sunshine, soaking up the atmosphere of Paris, such an interesting city.
We walked on towards Napoleons Tomb but unfortunately it closed only a few minutes before we got there, the outside is interesting to look at though.
All feeling a bit tired being well after 5.00pm we took our chances with the metro again back to the hotel. Across the road there is "Chez Clement Restaurant" our hotel staff advised the food was good and average prices for the area but around here was the most expensive for eating compared to other parts of Paris, which is exactly what we found, but after our busy day we didn't care.
Chat again soon
- comments
Shelley and Steve Beardshaw Ah Paree! Enjoy the sights ! And the sunshine! Love Shelley and Steve.