We returned the hire car intact and our journey to Paris went smoothly. The Eurostar was Ok, very fast, but not that flash. Feeling a bit pressed for time as train slightly delayed arriving at 5 pm and our Eiffel Tower tour booked for 7.15 pm. Taxi queues a mile long, with traffic at a standstill, we managed to find our way to the hotel, packed into the train like sardines with all our luggage, but when we came out of the underground station an enormous storm broke loose. Thunder, lightning and buckets of rain. Oh no, what about our tower visit?

We checked into our spacious room and made it to the Eiffel Tower with half an hour to spare and the skies cleared. Someone was on our side. The regulars queues were quite short so I felt ripped off by the "Fast track skip the line tour" but hey, how were we to know a storm would scare everyone off.

We meandered back through Parisian streets, feeling like locals eating dinner at 9 pm.

I think we are going to love Paris.

PS thanks for your comments and messages on the blog and on KIK
As requested I have tried to put in a few photos that prove I'm here too.
Stan will load his photos, much better than mine, into the albums over the next few days, so check them out.