The Scroop's European Holiday: Paris

We wake up today and the sky is blue and it is a fantastic day, a complete contrast to yesterday. We are going to do the open top bus tour today so we make our way down to the bus stop near Notre Dame. We purchase our “2 day” ticket and jump on board. We make our way around the Place de la Concorde and along the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe. It’s easy to understand why this is one of the most amazing streets in the world. We continue on to the Trocadero where we jump off so we can walk down to the Eiffel Tower. We soon notice that something is going on down at the Eiffel Tower and when we get down there we see some sort of massive female fun run going on and the Eiffel Tower is the start line so the place is jam packed. We were going to do the climb tothe top today but decide to leave it for another day due to the huge crowds of people. I’m pretty happy with that as it gives me another couple of days to do what Mr T would suggest, “get some nuts”. We continue walking along the Champ de Mars and through the back streets behind the Eiffel Tower dodging fun runners as we go. We are getting a bit peckish so we are on the lookout for a bakery. We come across this bakery and there is a line of people queuing out the door and along the footpath. We decide to join the line. We get inside and the cabinets are loaded with colourful cakes and I am salivating. We get to the front of the cue and all of a sudden you are under the pump to order. The French locals know what they want so they are in and out in a jiffy but with our indecision coupled with our nonexistent French we feel like we are being rushed. Luckily we get some assistance from a local man who translates our requests into French for the lady behind the counter and we get our goods without too much drama. Kris and I had a Citron Tartelette which almost made me cry. We also brought some almond biscuits which tipped me over the edge and I think I did cry. This was by far the best cakes we have had in Paris on both holidays. We continue on and reach the bus stop that will take us on the St Germain tour. This will get us to the Luxembourg Gardens where we want to spend lunch. When we arrive, we find it hard to track down somewhere close selling made up rolls but we eventually come across a bakery. We buy one made up baguette and then we decide just to buy plain baguettes. We get a couple of them and we make our way to the park and while we are walking we are all just eating one of the plain baguettes straight from the bag like homeless people. We find a spot in the Luxembourg Gardens and we just dine out on the rest. After that we wander through the gardens. The Luxembourg Gardens are spectacular and being a Sunday it’s packed. We leave the gardens and walk up to the Pantheon which is just up the road. We sit outside on the steps of the Pantheon, about 20m from the entrance, waiting for the kids to finish their icy poles when we get asked to move outside the gates by an official, this just happens to be around the same time a person walks inside the Pantheon with his dog! No, can’t have any icy pole drip on the stairs out the front but dog shit inside is ok!!! We eventually make it in and it is very underwhelming to the point it just looks like a big hall. We head downstairs to the crypt and the area is huge, and virtually empty, where’s all the dead people we’re thinking? Not much going on in there at all so we walk out and make our way down the road about 150m to a church, the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont. There are not too many people bothering to enter this church but we go in anyway. We get inside and wow wee, this place is 100 times better than the Pantheon with some amazing gothic style architecture. We spend a bit of time walking around inside before deciding to get back on the bus to take us to the Jewish district so we can walk back down Rue des Rosiers again. We get off the bus and walk through the Place des Vosges and today it is chocablock with people. The roads have become malls and it ends up being a great walk. We continue on and stop off at a corner bar just down the road from our apartment for a drink before buying some more bread and fruit and citron tartlettes and we head upstairs for dinner. It’s been a long day and we are buggered.