Up early, keen to be on our way. It was raining. The weather up to this point had been perfect, Our last breakfast, oh how we loved those breakfasts. I think they were on Justin’s list of the best things about Paris!

We metro’d it to the train station Gare du Nord (meaning Station of the World) where we were catching the Eurostar. We had to fill in all the customs and immigration forms, present our passports for stamping, were questioned about our stay in London and then let though. Into Duty Free! Yippee ky ay – my kind of shopping!! I bought some Perfume and some Paris coasters and a few nibbles for the train ride.

The train itself was nice. I had a nap so it seemed quite quick. In 2 hours we were there, flashing past the English countryside, rain streaming down and then at the station St Pancras International (or pancreas as Justin kept calling it). Kings Cross Staion is just next door and that is where our hotel was, so we nipped out the door, up the road and we were there. Damn this rain! We put our bags up into the room (up 7 of the narrowest and steepest stair cases in the world) and decided we’d find a map and get sightseeing. The rain put us off a bit, so we thought we’d go to Madame Toussauds and wait the rain out. We lined up for ages before we got to the door and there was a sign that said “60 minutes from this point”. OMG you have to be joking??? I kept thinking it couldn’t possibly take that long, but it did. Nearly 2 hours in that bloody line all up. It had better be worth it!

It was. It was fun and funny and a good way to spend a cold, wet Monday afternoon. I don’t know where these photos are but I had my picture taken with the Pope, Robbie Williams, Diana, Miley Cyrus, Brad and Angelina, Beyonce, John Howard and many others. it was cool.

After a few hours there we jumped on a red bus (yes, a proper red double decker bus) and went where it went, which fortunately was past Harrods. We jumped off here of course and went inside to live the magic and mystery of the worlds most famous Department Store. It lived up to it’s reputation. The food hall was spectacular – we could have stayed in there for ages. I wanted to buy lots of things, but there are so many restrictions about what you can bring back into Australia that it just wasn’t worth the hassle. We went up to the kids toys floor, where we were dazzled by every toy, book and kid gadget you can imagine. We bought some things for the kids, were served by a girl from Adelaide (!) who gave us extra bags for each child. Bless.

We did a bit more shopping and browsing up Oxford Street (Marks and Spencer I love you) before trying out the Tube to get back to the Hotel Being very confident with the Paris Metro I thought it would be easy, but it proved beyond our tired and frazzled mind, and we got entirely lost.

For dinner that night we went to a local Chinese restaurant, set out a plan of attack for the next day, then hit the sack. The weather was a downer, the hotel room was not a great as the Paris one (I’m sure that if I stretched out my arms I could touch both walls of our room), but we were happy to be in London at long last. It was going to be great!!

Every first Sunday of the month, the museums of Paris are open free of charge. Bingo, today was the day. Justin hadn’t seen the Louvre and I thought that he couldn’t come all this way and not go there, so that was our first destination today. The line up was massive, but quick moving and once inside it is just so huge that it wouldn’t looked packed out if there were a million people in there (I may be exaggerating a bit!). We meandered around, and followed the throng of people, who like me a few days before, just wanted to see The Mona Lisa. This time there was a big crowd in there. He seemed rather nonplussed about it all. Not gushing, not amazed, not enthralled, not nothing. Such a boy! I pointed out a few other famous things , and then we went over to another wing, where Napoleons apartments were. These are all set up in the way that they were when he lived there. Lavish, extravagant and over the top as usual! Justin really liked this part and we spent a long time in that area.

I was keen to get on. This being our last day i wanted to see some markets and also get out to Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Basilica). These were both out in the same general direction, so we Metro’d it out to Marche aux Puces de St Ouen (like the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne) in the Montmartre district. I bought some jewellery, but everything else was pretty much your standard market kind of stuff, so we left there and headed to Sacre Coeur. We emerged from the metro not knowing which direction we were supposed to go, so followed the throng of tourists and came through a bustling sidestreet market face to face with the impressive Basilica on the hill. We grabbed our standard baguette and drink for lunch, and sat down on the Lawns just watching the people stream by. We were also once again mesmerised by the Touts and gypsies who are standing at about a metre apart all selling the same thing. How they make any money with this level of competition is beyond me.

After lunch we climbed up all the steps to the front of the church and relished the view. Stunning to see Paris this way, so flat and white. I love it. Inside the Basilica was ornate and ethereal. No photos, not hats and this was enforced y some scary guards at the doors. We sat down to take in the moment. It is said that since it’s consecration, there has not been a broken prayer (a perpetual prayer cycle) in there. Amazing stuff.

We caught the funicular railway down the hill to save our sorry little legs the walk. It was an amazing place.

From here we caught the metro a few stops then went in search of a little cafe that Justin was desperado to see. A tiny out of the way place made famous by the movie “Amelie”. We found it without getting too lost and sat down to a Iced coffee and Creme Broulee (when in France……). There was Amelie paraphernalia all over the place. It is clear that they thrive on the tourists unrelenting thirst for anything celebrity! Guilty!! Loved it, loved the atmosphere, loved the food.

We headed back into town and decided to eat a a local French Restaurant near the Hotel. Great service, fab food and a band to entertain us. Really enjoyed our last meal in Paris. The whole time has been the most incredible experience. Never thought I’d do it this way, so am very grateful that we were given the opportunity.

I fell in love with Paris this week.

I was really looking forward to this day, mainly because Justin was now with me to share the experience, but also because we were doing the Bike Ride tour. I’d booked this weeks before at Lin’s recommendation and it was totally brilliant and one of, if not the highlight of the entire trip. Big call – but it lived up to all my expectations.

Our meeting point was at the South Pillar of the Eiffel tower. Excitement number 1. We hadn’t yet been up close to the tower, only passed it on the bus tour on our first day. It was huge and the elevators were zipping up and down. It really was something spectacular to see. It was only ever meant to be a temporary structure, as the gateway to the World Show of 1889, but it became an icon and hence, never pulled down.

So we met up with our tour guides from Fat Tire Bike Tours, went to gather our bikes and we were soon on our way. Paris is very flat so the ride was easy. We stopped every so often for an informative talk about a building or a landmark. Our guide, Ned, was funny and charming and excellent at his job. He really made it great. There are some photos of this ride on Flickr here, but Justin also took video which is very funny.

Riding around the cobblestone roads was jiggly and getting over the main roads was daunting but thrilling once we were safe. Paris is fast and bumper to bumper, but the roads are fairly wide and they are safe drivers, so we were never really in that much danger! If you are ever in Paris, you have to do the Bike tour. Great fun.

That took 4 hours all up so in the afternoon we strolled though the back streets and made our way to the river where we caught a Cruise of the Seine. Loved this too. The views from the water were terrific and because we’d had a week to work our way around, we were familiar with the sites and to see them from a new vantage point was great. It also meant we could sit down for an hour or so! Justin took so many photos we ran out of space on the memory stick!

After this we walked upriver and passed the Tunnel where Diana’s car crashed in 1997. There was no official memorial but all over the façade were messages to her and Dodi, poems and phrases and pictures, and lots of site seers, like us, who just wanted a sticky beak. I had my photo taken there – is that ghoulish?? I told you I was having a Diana Fest!

It was late afternoon by this stage so we headed back to the hotel, got something totally takeawayish for dinner and I went straight to sleep. A brilliant, but exhausting day, to say the least.

Before I get into more of the Paris trip had to note down what we did on the weekend.

Justin and I took Holly, Meg and Addie (from next door) to Wagga for the Regional Championships of Physical Culture. They love this dance class and Meg and Holly were in the teams section as well as competing individually. We hit the road on Saturday afternoon arriving at Wagga in time for a swim at the motel and then out to dinner. We had to be at the designated meeting spot at 7.30am the next day for hair and makeup (which is very low key compared to other dance competitions!).

Meg’s team was up 4th and they did a good routine and came equal 3rd (very diplomatic of the judges there!). Holly’s team was a bit later on and they had 6 teams in their section. Holly was the team leader and did a great job, but the standard was very high and they missed out on a place.

The individual sections started with the 5 yrs, then an hour or so later Meg and Addie danced in the 6yrs. I don’t think Meg really realised that this was a serious competition. She strolled around in her marching bit, and was really relaxed while dancing. Hence, neither she or Addie made the final. They did get a medal for participation, so that was good enough for them.

By the time Holly’s section began everyone was exhausted. She danced with about 50 other girls in 3 groups, then they mixed them all up and had to dance again in another 3 groups. She did very well, gaining precision and experience with each dance. Then they took all 50 girls out and chose the top 15 to dance again in the final. When they march in it is a surprise to see who got into that final and I was really hoping Holly did, but i couldn’t be sure. Anyway, last girl out was my beaming daughter. I could tell she was so thrilled with herself. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She did a flawless routine and I was so proud of her. The judges obviously couldn’t pick a top 5 because they asked them to do it again ad Holly made a little mistake. Bugger!! The upshot of it all was that she didn’t make the top 5. This is ok, because it is a privilege to be in the final at all, and this is her first ever comp and also because the National Championships are in Sydney in a few weeks time and I don’t think Justin or I could have sat through that repetitive music so soon after this!!

We are so proud of the girls. They did a great job and I think Holly grew as a dancer from the experience. She took on board that others were better then her, and she improved herself because of it.

We didn’t get home till about 8.30pm Sunday night so the girls stayed home on Monday to have a rest and recuperation day. I needed it too. My goodness I was totally exhausted. They have taken their medals to school for news today, so no doubt more glory will be bestowed upon them. They love it!!