A scorcher of a weekend was enjoyed in Paris with 32C both days. We still managed to check out all the sights with earlyish mornings meaning we could avoid the hot afternoons. We climbed the steps of the Eiffel Tower to the 2nd level to avoid the queue then took the lift to the top during the day and returned in the evening to see the tower all lit up - beautiful.

We took a more direct approach to our visit to the Louvre and beelined specific items to view aided by the new art tour guide Darin who has been reading a book called '50 paintings you should know about' of which several were at the Louvre. We saw the Arc De Triomphe - which was very quiet being August when all Parisians are away on holiday and tourists were crossing the road to get to it rather than going under the road! We walked along the Champs Elysees until it was too hot and we had to metro back to our hotel for some respite from the heat. We then tried some Parisian wine in the setting evening sun at the Luxembourg Gardens before finding some dinner at a very funky Parisian wine bar.

The next day we explored Notre Dame before visiting the amazing Musee d'Orsay. It was then off to Montmarte to check out the cemetery before side stepping all the tourist to get to the Sacre Coeur church at the top of the hill while enjoying the beautiful views over Paris. Finally it was home time so picked up some wine, pastries and baguettes for the relaxing trip back to London on the Eurostar.