Bonjour!

After 3 days in Paris, France we have seen and witnessed it all! Just a 3 hour train trip from Amsterdam where we lugged our gigantic bacpacks from home to the station was a mission in itself. A massive wake up call to being a tourist happened on the train with a travellers suitcase being stolen by a guy who just jumped on and off the train - passport, money and everything gone. It opened our eyes massively and that was just the beginning.

Arriving in Paris and finding our hotel, we got a little lost. Streets are named the same but are either called 'Rue' or 'Boulevards'. We learnt our lesson and after about 20 mins of walking around in the wrong direction with a 15kg backpack and 32 degree weather we were keen to find our hotel!

Our hotel is located in the suburb of Montmarte, the entertainment district with the Moulin Rouge down the street and the Sacre Courte on top of the hill with a massive view of Paris. Our first day consisted of walking to the top of the hill (and with the heat this was hard!) and taking in the views. At night we then headed to the The Avenue des Champs-Élysées for some dinner, walked to the The Arc de Triomphe and headed to the Eiffel Tower to witness it sparkle at 10pm. There we witnessed the poverty and desperateness of French people. "Suspect" (as James calles them) children and adults walk around pretending they are deaf and dumb to get you to sign petitions and give them money to help them. Yet, 50 of them were walking around the Eiffel Tower and we even watched some of them get chased by police. We then saw a guy get his camera stolen making us hold tightly onto our bags for the remainder of he trip!

Day 2 and 3 we got on a big red double decker hop on hop off bus tour around the main attractions. We climbed 700 stairs to reach the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and had a panoramic view of Paris.The weather was no where near as hot and even had some rain. We saw many muesums and attractions such as the Lourve, Notre Dame, Hotel Des Invalides, Opera, Grand Palais, La Madeline, Trocadero, Place Vendome & so much more...

There really is so much to see and do here. You can see why Paris attracts so many tourists per year. Everywhere you turn there is some amazing building that takes your breath away. Now for tonight to head to the Moulin Rouge and get some of these amazing macaroons we have become obsessed with! Tomorrow its starting our Busabout tour and heading to Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss Alps!