Believe it or not

Me and the Eiffel Tower

Park outside my hotel

Arc de Triomphe

Lady giving her dog a treat as she is driving

Hoped on the Eurostar blinked and then arrived in Paris, this is a pretty easy way to travel. Some of you will not believe that I am actually in Paris. Take the Metro to the Seine and alight at St Michel. Arrive at street level and the intensity hits me, masses of people, cars, honking horns, police sirens and men walking around with baguettes. Practice my first Bonjour in café and take refugee by the Seine to eat some lunch whilst the tourist boats float by.

Lesson No. 1 don’t go to a foreign country without knowing the word for toilet.  Finally found one and then got to jump the long queue as the attendant took a shine to me. Now I board the open deck bus and my orientation tour starts. I am glad it’s the bus driver and not me driving in this mass of lunatics.

The bus driver expertly takes us on a tour of all the major sites, I really feel like I am in Paris when I see the Eiffel Tower. It’s a beautiful blue day so hop off and check out all the action. Snap away with all the other tourists.

Decide to step away from the masses and go and check in so back to the metro and out to the 17^th. This is more like it. Cafes with real Parisians in them. A beautiful park with kids and dogs playing, roses blooming and even a table tennis tournament. The park is right across from my hotel. My room is all decked out in rustic red with original beams painted black and wallpaper on the roof.

Now for some more exploring, off to the Arcde Triomphe. Navigate my way there via about 15 little dogs. The arch is looking perfect in the sunlight and is so big it swamps the tourists.

Decide to take a long circuit via some parks back to my area and make my first map mistake and miss Rue Haussman and end up on Champs Elysees. What a great mistake there are shops everywhere. First stop is Cartier, all the tourists stay on the outside looking at the windows, I walk straight in and check it all out. Can’t decide if I like the butterfly ring or the diamond earrings best. Next it’s cars for sale in shops, weird. Start with Peugeot and Mercedes.  Now I Bonjour, merci and s’il vous plait my way through some clothes shops, mind you they switch to English the moment I talk, my French must be pretty bad. Make my first Paris purchase.

Today is the longest day of the year and I have made the most of it but very tired now so find a metro stop and head for home.