Parisian adventures with Aunty Libby and Alex

My Aunt Libby and my cousin Alex stayed with us in London for a few weeks in February, we all headed to Paris together for an amazing but cold long weekend.

I'm not being lazy,but I have decided to publish my Aunt's account of our weekend, as I think she has summed it up better than I could have. Also its nice to hear it described as seen through the eyes of someone who's not at all sick of looking at European churches and likes pastries almost as much as we do!

Paris, what can i say, it is the most magical city. It's streets are all cobble stones and narrow, there are patisseries on every block oozing with all their wonderful pastries and breads. We went to Norte Dame and the Louvre on the first day.

Notre Dame is a peaceful place, although there would have been 200 people in there looking around at the time there was still an amazing sense of peace and calm. There is no talking allowed when inside so even though it was full of people the silence made it even more special to reflect on the feelings you felt. I again lit a candle for my family and friends and a special one for Tash and her family. The Notre Dame is still a running church where it has small services everyday and it's traditional one on Sunday's.

We proceeded onto the Louvre, again what a place! It is big big big, we covered a lot of ground but really you need the whole day there if you want to see it all, maybe 2. We visited the famous painting of Mona Lisa and many more interesting paintings, statues and jewels. Not only are all the art works on display amazing but the building it self is worth the look.

In Paris everywhere you look they have amazing statues, lamp posts with statues, you turn a corner and look up and there is a building holding statues covered in gold leaf or green copper. The history in Paris is everywhere. I am glad we were there with Michelle and Brock, Alex and I can not speak French let alone read it, Brock and Michelle could read a couple of words and say some phrases, the waiter was very helpful. (Finding somewhere to eat dinner was an interesting experience, but we picked somewhere that was full of locals and were well rewarded)We had tea and called it a night (Exhausted, I have to add - ed).

2nd day in Paris, we went on a walking tour of the village of Montmatre, on the north side of Paris up the hill. The girl who was our guide was an excellent story teller. She took us to the house where Picasso, Toulouse-La Trec and Van Gogh , and told us of their lives. On the tour we started in the middle of hill and worked our way up.

As we walked up the hill over the cobble stones and through the narrow streets, our guide talked of all the history of the place. When we reached the top there was yet another church - the Sacré-Cœur, the hordes of people as promised by our guide, tourist stands with all the cheap tourist crap and a view of Paris that was fantastic. We worked our way down, this time 'til we came to a street full of strip joints, where the Moulin Rouge is. It was horrible and seedy. It was amazing how a little hill on Montmartre can hold 3 different kinds of lives!

Next stop was the Eiffel Tower (which i was calling the Leaning Tower all day daaaaa!). We took the lift up to the 2nd level as the top was full...

I am glad we only went to the 2nd level, I found the lift ride quite scary i had to close my eyes. Once we were out side on the level it was OK. It was now night fall and the tower lit up as did the city, what a spectacular view! You can see all of Paris from every different angle. You could even see down the long stretch of the river right up to the Sacré-Cœur on the hill in the village of Montmartre! On our last day in Paris we walked the famous road of fashion, a lot of beautiful stuff but with a big price, I took some photos of some shoes to show Xenia the fashions, even if I could afford to buy any they are much to nicer to anything in Tassie! The Parisian food was as good as you would expect, the pastries even better. People in Paris seem to all have dogs they take them every where, there is a lot of dog poo on the footpaths but you learn to watch your step as you are walking. Paris on a whole is a beautiful place, I would highly recommend it to any one."

We all had a great weekend in Paris, it really was cold, snowing even at one stage. It was great to spend time with Libby and Alex seeing as she has now returned to Australia(for the time being?). Brock loves France, I think mainly for the food, but you know what they say "the way to a mans heart is through his stomach". I think both the city of Paris and I have that under wraps!