My first full day in Paris and I decided to hit the streets. I set myself a target of six hours wandering around, which came in handy as the day went on.

I started out from the hotel at about 8:00 am, picked a road that went in the rough direction of the river and started walking. The narrowness of many of the streets means that most of them are only one-way, so that made it easier to cross the streets as needed. At that time on a Sunday, though, many places were not yet open and there seemed to be few Parisians out and about - most people that I saw were quite obviously tourists. After a short time, I picked another street to try and I came upon my first surprise of the day - La Eglise de la Madelaine.

The Madelaine is a beautiful old building that is currently closed to the public but I walked around the outside (I first came upon the building at the rear) and found the large flower beds at the front. After talking a few pictures, I turned to go down the main road that led away from the building. Ahead I could make out a tall obelisk topped with gold - I had to check it out!

The road took me to the Place de la Concorde, a large open space with fountains and the obelisk that I had seen earlier - Cleopatra's Needle. There were a lot of tourists there so I did not try to get closer to the Needle, which was fine. You could see the hieroglyphs carved into the sides and it is fascinating to look at, knowing that it was made over three thousand years ago! After a brief walkaround, i noticed some open gates that led into large gardens, so I thought I would take a walk through them.

Le Jardin des Tuileries is beautiful and green and well worth a walk through. There are some beautiful grassed areas (fenced off) with large flower gardens and huge ponds filled with fish. Everywhere there are chairs to sit in or lounge on and there are a few cafes near the middle. I decided to take break and grab something to eat and drink - a croque monsieur and a large Coke. For those who don't know, a croque monsieur is basically a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, but with this (at least at this cafe), the cheese is placed on top of the sandwich and then it is toasted. I am definitely going to have to get some Emmenthal when I get home - it was delicious!

After a short break, I continued walking through the gardens, as I had noticed a large building ahead - the Louvre. As I walked through the triumphal arch that stands near the entrance to the ground of the museum, I was accosted by the first of the scam artists that approached me throughout the day. This one was asking for donations to a charity but, considering she had her sign-up sheet stuck to a piece of corrugated box cardboard, it really looked fake. When she approached me, her first question was "Speak English?". In hindsight, that should have been a dead giveaway.

The Louvre was just as stunning in real life as I had expected. From the enormous glass pyramid in the middle of the courtyard, which serves as the entrance to the museum underneath, the line of people who already had tickets stretched around the pyramid and up to the passageway that leads to the central courtyard. There was a sign at the end of the line, saying that the current wait to get in was an hour. I decided that when I got back to my hotel room, I would buy a ticket online and go back to visit tomorrow.

Another scam artist targeted me when I went into the central courtyard - this one was a guy who claimed to have suddenly found a gold ring on the ground right in front of me. I had been warned about this scam by my friend Arwen and the travel websites, however I actually watched him as he bent down to "pick up" the ring - it was a very smooth and practiced movement when a bit of sleight-of-hand to bring the ring into view. I congratulated him on his good luck at finding such a ring and went on my way.

Upon leaving the ground of the Louvre, I decided to walk towards another large building nearby, however I did not realise that the river Seine was between me and the building. After a brief moment's thought, i decided to cross the rover and continue on that side. I walked past the building I had seen, which turned out to be the Musee d'Orsay. A few more photos and I decided to continue along the Seine in the direction of a towering spectacle I could see over the roof tops.

I stopped briefly a couple of times along the river to check out the buildings and the bridges (again being targeted by a ring scam artist and a charity sign-up artist), one of which I am pretty sure was used for a key scene in the film "Ronin", when eventually I reached my destination.

The Eiffel Tower is an incredible sight in reality. the grounds around it are beautiful and green and under the tower itself is a plaza of souvenir shops, cafes and the elevator booths that feed into the legs. It was also teeming with tourists. I overheard a tour guide telling her group to be very wary of pickpockets and scam artists and, as I sat on a bench for a break, I was again approached by ring and charity sign-up scammers. I was also approached by a young girl of African descent who wanted to give me a brochure form the Jehovah's Witnesses.

As I got up to leave, I vowed that I would return to Paris at some point and, after having lost a good deal of weight, i would finally climb the tower, maybe even all the way to the top. For now, though, I decided to head back across the river to another beautiful sight - the fountains of the Jardins du Trocadero. The fountains were a welcome respite for many people from the heat of the day with the spray going everywhere. I continued up the paths to the Esplanade du Trocadero at the top, which lies between the twin buildings of the Palais de Chaillot. Again some stunning old architecture and after stopping at a souvenir stand to check out what was on offer, i again picked a direction and started off.

This time after a fair walk, I cam across the Place Charles De Gaulle and its central attraction - the Arc de Triomphe. I again sat on a bench nearby to watch the mad traffic screaming around the base of the Arc and watched the people milling around beneath. Like the Eiffel Tower, the Arc is an awesome sight in reality. It's not the largest triumphal arch in existence (it's third, if I remember correctly), but it is still very impressive. A few more photos and I was off again in a new direction.

I picked a random street and headed for it, which turned out to be the Champs Elysees. If you want to see a big fancy shopping district, the Champs Elysees certainly qualifies. Lots of old buildings repurposed as gleaming and glittering shopping meccas. All the names that you instantly recognise - Gucci, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany's, the Disney store. I walked past the Gaumont Cinema Complex, which occupied both sides of the street! There were car stores there which were incredible examples of salesmanship and historical display - the Toyota store has an old Toyota racing car right inside the door. There is greenery everywhere and, once you leave the shopping area, the gardens are gorgeous.

I continued onward, taking a few more backstreets and wound up in a small plaza where I noticed armed guards standing outside a gated complex - this turned out to be the Interior Ministry. My walk then took me past the rear entryways of the Elysees Palace and there were a lot of guards all around there.

By this time I had decided that it would be best to go back to my hotel room, so I walked until I found a familiar street - the front of the Madelaine - and headed for home.

All in all, I was out and about for six-and-a-half hours, so I won my bet. The reason this target came in useful? About two hours into my walk, when I was at the Louvre, I suddenly felt the familiar feeling of "Leave here. Go home. Get back to safety". I managed to use the bet and the thought of distinct targets as a means of keeping myself going. However after four-and-a-half hours, my calves were starting to go "Man, we're on his side - let's go home!"

When i finally got back to the hotel, after another quick stop at Pomme De Pain, my calves were aching! If they (and my butt) don't get nicely tightened up after this trip, I will be greatly disappointed!

I took quite a few photos today which I am hoping to load up to Facebook shortly, and there will be more tomorrow with the trip to the Louvre and wherever else I wander.