Our crossing from London to Paris on the Eurostar went very smoothly. King's Cross Station was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel so it was easy enough to drag the luggage that far. Greg and Brett had left the hotel at 7am and headed for the Eurotunnel at Folkestone. Their crossing was not so smooth as they were held up for about 3 hours because there had been an incident in the tunnel involving one of the many Libyan migrants who are attempting to get to the UK for a better life. The migrants are getting on trucks in Calais and causing heavy delays as all the trucks have to be searched and the migrants dealt with. They must be desperate as they are taking big risks to get out of France, including attempting to walk through the train tunnels.

Stacey, the kids and I arrived in Paris about 2pm and once again dragged the luggage to the pre-booked Jarry Hotel. This was not far but the closer we got, the more we worried about our hotel. The streets were getting dirtier, narrower and more crowded with African immigrants. The children's instincts had them walking very close to Stacey and I. When we arrived at the Hotel we were told there was no lift, one room was on the 4th floor and the other room was on the 2nd but was not yet ready. This was now 3pm and check in was supposed to be 2pm! The man at the desk took our money and then offered to help us get our bags to the 4th floor where we could leave them until the other room was ready - he was very sorry that he had offered as both big bags are over 20kg each! When we got up to the room we were not happy campers! The entrance to the room was littered with cigarette buts and dirt and had the heavy odour of cigarettes in the air. The room was old, dilapidated and not very clean. The beds looked like they had been very well used! Thomas dropped one of his toys under the bed, crawled under to get it and came out covered in dust and cobwebs. The bathroom was mildewed and had used dental floss in balls on the floor. Needless to say we were not very impressed. Kerrie went back down stairs to get more luggage and to make her complaints about the cleanliness of the room and was offered 2 more rooms to replace the one that was not ready. Upon checking them out she discovered they were just as smelly and only had a double bed in each - not very practical for a family of 2 adults and 2 children!. After 2 more hours we were informed that our other room was ready. It also was no better than the one we already had. Needless to say, Kerrie and Stacey were not very impressed with the representation of this hotel on booking.com! We went to find food and a solution to our accommodation woes!

After checking out an Ibis and Mecure Hotel, we found a Holiday Inn that had rooms available for the next 3 nights. It did not take us long to decide that we were willing to give up some of the money we had already outlaid for the first hotel in order to upgrade to the Holiday Inn and enjoy our Paris visit in more appropriate accommodation. So, back to Hotel Jarry for one night and then a move the next morning to Holiday Inn was organised. Brett and Greg arrived on the bike about 10:30 and were told of the drama. More luggage dragging in the morning saw us moved in to our new digs and ready to start our exploration of Paris. We did manage to get a refund of 2 nights at the first hotel so all was not lost.

First stop was to Gare d' Est - just across the road from our new hotel. We bought a book of metro tickets each for our transport for the next 3 days. The metro system is equally as good as the London Underground and we were soon on our way to the Arc de Triomphe. Entry lines were short so we made our way up the 284 steps to the top of this arch that is the centre piece of the 12 radiating avenues that lead to all of Paris. The views from the top are great in all directions but the children were most excited to view the Eiffel Tower. The Arc de Triomphe was built in 1836 to honour Napoleon's 1805 victory at Austerlitz but is probably best known today as the finishing point of the Tour de France. We pointed out a little restaurant on the Champs-Elysees where we would have lunch after we descended.

Back on ground level, it was lunch time. Kerrie and Greg had sampled red wine and baguettes here on previous visits to Paris so it was a no-brainer that we would take our family there for lunch. As it was now about 3pm we decided to make this our main meal for the day so it was spaghetti for Greg and the kids, cheese board, bruschetta and red wine for the rest of us - what a feast, watching the world go by on the Champs-Elysees - we could think of no-where we would rather be! Even William tried his first red wine with Grams as promised - we still had to find snails though! Bellies full, we walked off down this famous shopping street making stops at Louis Vuitton and several car showrooms located on this broad tree-shaded avenue. Back on the Metro, we headed to The Eiffel Tower. We were not so lucky with the ticket queues here so it was decided to just look around the area today and come back in the morning for a trip to the top. Greg and I then headed back to the hotel while Stacey, Brett and the kids continued to explore the city - walking and taking a cruise on the Seine and watching the lights come on at the Eiffel Tower - they returned to the hotel about 11pm exhausted but very excited about how beautiful the Eiffel Tower looked at night - this is something that Greg and I have still not seen.

We headed back to the Eiffel Tower late the next morning and joined the queue to ascend the east tower. It took about an hour before we boarded the lift to take us to the second level. Once there we posed for photos and then joined the queue to ascend to the summit. We weren't in the queue for long when Greg, Stacey and Thomas decided that going to the top just wasn't for them! They went back down to level one while Brett, William, Hayley and I continued to the top. WOW! This was my first time to the summit and it was amazing to experience it with the family. Brett had to settle for a kiss with Hayley at the kissing spot while William settled for a cuddle with his Grams. We met up with the rest of the family back on level one. Not long after we got back to level one we noticed 2 military type jets flying over the city. They were soon joined by 3 helicopters and an announcement was made that the tower was now closed to the public and we were asked to evacuate! Did we move quick! People were very cooperative and immediately worked their way to the stairs and to ground level. You could feel the tension in the air and most people were trying to reassure each other that all would be OK while walking as quickly as possible to get away from the Tower. We found a spot down by the river and had a beer to recover from the ordeal. We have no idea what was going on and there were no reports on the news that night. Maybe it was just a drill - but we didn't get that sensation at the time!

Brett and Stacey had been carrying a padlock and keys with them since leaving home so they could put it on one of the bridges in Paris - the city of love. Today was the day! We found a memorial to Princess Diana just above the tunnel where she died and there was a bridge very close by that people had locked their love to. The large, engraved lock was duly taken out of the backpack and attached to the bridge. Stacey and Brett shared a kiss before throwing one of the keys to the lock in to the Seine. We all then had had crepes for afternoon tea before continuing.

Next stop was Notre Dame. This mighty cathedral is a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture and was largely completed in the early 14th century. It was badly damaged during the French Revolution and restorations were finished in 1864. There was no sign of the hunchback - in fact, we didn't even get to see inside as we arrived just after closing time - our bad luck with visiting beautiful churches is continuing. So.... off to The Louvre. You guessed it - also just closing! It stays open until 10pm every day except Thursday - which was today! Mona Lisa will just have to wait for the Lanes and Schneiders to visit next time they are in Paris. We did however manage to find a restaurant in the Latin Quarter that served escargot for dinner. Most of us tried this French delicacy - Kerrie was glad that everyone only wanted one of the dozen she had ordered, as she really enjoys her snails!

Our last day in Paris was reserved for Disneyland - no sleeping in this morning except for Greg who decided he was going to spend his day at Hotel des Invalides - no, not a place for the old and infirm but the resting place for Napoleon. Greg also planned to visit the military museum and rest up.

We purchased tickets for Disneyland online at the hotel the night before and were delighted that they only cost 49 Euro each for adults and 43 for children - we had been expecting to pay 90 Euro as advertised in the brochures. Train tickets were also cheap and took us directly to the entrance to Disneyland! The day was spent moving in an anti-clockwise direction from 'land' to 'land' starting at Frontierland. We managed to complete all the recommended rides and also many of the ones that Stacey had remembered from her first visit to Disneyland, USA in 1988. Hayley was very excited to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the Tea-cups and was mesmerised by 'Its a Small World' which she wanted to ride twice. William was more interested in the Indiana Jones Rollercoaster and Thomas loved Pirates of the Carribean. We all watched the parade at 5:30 before heading off for more rides. By this time, Grams was exhausted and stopped for a coffee while the others went on Star Tours. After a stroll down Main Street and buying a few gifts for the kids it was time to return to our hotel and get ready for our trip to Florence the next morning.