Today is our last day in Paris and its turned out to be a not nice day. First up, we returned to the Apple store to get a sales tax refund docket - no big deal, it was an easy drive in, found a parking space right where we need to be, got attended to in the store straight away, and then we were off. We headed for the Champs Elysees Avenue to go to a tax refund store. No problem, the GPS landed us right outside the store. Pulled in behind another vehicle parked on the side of the Avenue, turned our hazard light on to say "Won't be long, just gone inside to do something." Inside they told us that before we could claim the tax back we had to get the docket stamped at a border customs office. Great, that means when we fly out from Geneva. An hour wasted.

When we got back outside we noticed a number of police wandering up and down the street with notebooks out and writing tickets. Damn, we thought, another ticket. If only it was just another ticket!! As well as police officers writing out tickets, there were tows truck as well hauling away cars - including ours! Apparently the Champs Elysees is the one area in Paris where they vigorously enforce the parking rules!! Thankfully the place they towed the car to was an underground car park up near the Arc De Triomphe, about a kilometer from where we were.

By the time we got there we were both feeling a bit peeved and Julie had her "not happy Jan" face on. Wonder how much this is going to cost us - 136 euros it cost us to get the car back. Although this was about half what it would have cost us in parking fees over the last 5 days - if we had bothered to pay for parking that is. Luckily we were able to park the car in a few places where we escaped the wrath of parking inspectors, so overall we still came out ahead. Still rankles though.

So, leaving Paris finally. Sad to say goodbye to Paris, we've really enjoyed our time here. We were hoping to go across to the UK for a week or so. However, they're being battered by storms and flooding so we're heading across to the Normandy area to Caen for a few days. Maybe do the UK later if the weather over there improves.