Blog du Paris.

So we were supposed to leave for Zurich today, but because we have been feeling really travel weary and dis-organised, we've decided to stay in Paris for 2 more days! Yesterday we paid for our Eurorail tickets and booked our trip to Zurich by rail for monday at 1:13PM. This two extra days will allow us to see the Palace of Versailles (just outside Paris), and Crazyhorse. We decided against Moulin Rouge after reviewing online ratings and comments. http://www.lecrazyhorseparis.com/

We're walking all over Paris! Check out these snapshots - most need no introduction..

Sacre Coeur is located in Montmartre, just behind Caroline's apartment. This is the first major landmark we see and recommended by Reg. It's a very impressive basilica with lots of gargoyles. Located in the north and on top of a hill, it overlooks Paris:

 Standing on the basilica steps overlooking Paris on a cloudy and damp thursday.

We make our way towards the heart of Paris and look what we find! 

(I planned this, of course.)

 We decided against going into Pompidou museum (houses modern art) as we had already been in MoMA, NYC a few days earlier. Besides, we were already impressed enough by the queue that had formed that looked as long as the Great Wall of China.

Seine River. 

Notre Dame Cathedral

We caught this guy jerking off walking along the Seine River. No shame!

Louvre Museum. We had planned to visit this museum but Amber was not so keen (she had visited before in her 20s) and I was not too fussed. Besides, the "Great Wall of China" had formed in front of this entrance too. It houses three of Amber's favorite art pieces - The Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo and Nike aka The Victory of Samothrace.

Arch De Triumph honors those who have fought for France, especially during the Napoleonic wars. The names of Generals and wars that were fought are inscribed on the walls of the arch. Underneath lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We've not been able to use the 'Velib' to travel around town. Apparently you need a local bank card as a deposit to use it and we haven't bothered to find out how to get around doing this yet. So we've been walking everywhere. It's no wonder why we're so tired all the time. It's good to be fit, though.

The Eiffel Tower is pretty impressive up close, although it looks like it's made up of rusty iron. After all that walking around Paris, the last thing I wanted to do was to pay to go up this monstrosity. Now I can say I've been here! Amber's second time.

We found staying at Caroline's convenient and liked the character of the northern district, however she couldn't accommodate us for another two days as she had another guest arriving. So I looked up Hotel Richmond located just outside Gare Du Nord Station (which is convenient) and a 5 minute walk to Gare L'est - where we catch the train to Zurich on Monday noon. But tomorrow, we go to Versailles and watch a cabaret!