After a restful Sunday in Allevard, we got an early coach to Grenoble where we got a much quicker train back to Paris, a mere 3 hours. We arrived in the suburbs after lunch and were welcomed by Rik and Laur, whose cooking and conversation were lovely. We had time for a brief evening stroll by a series of lakes connected by streams.

There is so much choice in Paris that you have to pick a few things and just go for those. On Tuesday we went to the promenade plantée which is a park raised on an old railway line, providing gorgeous views of the city. We walked along for 4 km until we reached the Bas de Vincennes, a park which is absolutely enormous. We encircled one of the lakes before heading on to Le Maisey. There we found a library in a beautiful old church building, looking more like an Abbey than a library. Anyone can join, so Chris now has a French library card!

Wednesday was hitting a few of the more well-known tourist spots. We went to Parc de Buttes Chaumont which used to be a quarry and is one of the few spots where you can actually find some hills. We walked along the canal until La Villette, where we entered la Cité des Sciences et Industries. There we saw an incredible display at the planetarium, went into an old submarine and saw exhibits on the brain, Solar Impulse and pinhole cameras. We stayed until closing time then headed up to Montmartre, - another hill, which was by far the most crowded spot. We'd hoped to see the Eiffel Tower while up there but you can only see it at the top of the tower, which we didn't have time for; surprisingly, we didn't see it at all during our stay.

Today we are on the rails again. Next stop, Dombühl.