We flew into Paris late evening, landing just after 10pm. We had booked the flight on Transavia, which is a budget Spanish airline and apart from the fact they were very strict with the 'one cabin bag only rule', which we had suspected might happen, we had an excellent flight, polite & friendly crew and an almost new plane. Flying into Orly airport we were able to get a train into the city and the closest metro stop was conveniently only two minutes walk from our hotel.

Doug & Janet and Sarah & Farhaad were also is Paris (staying at the same hotel), so after a breakfast of croissants & coffee at a local patisserie with Sarah and Farhaad before they headed to the Eiffel Tower, we met up with Doug and Janet and headed to Notre Dame cathedral. Doug and Janet had already been in Paris for a few days so were able to give us all the hits & tips we needed to know about using the Paris metro.

Notre Dame cathedral is over 800 years old and is one of the most notable monuments in Paris, it is located on a small island called the Ile de la Cite in the middle of the river Seine. Arriving shortly after opening we had a very short wait in a queue before heading inside for a closer look. Like many other cathedrals, Notre Dame is very grand inside, has beautiful stained glass windows and is full of hundreds of years history.

Next stop for Tony & I was the Pont de Arts bridge, famous for its 'love locks'. Earlier this year a section of the bridge spanning the river was so heavy with locks it collapsed and fell into the water below. As this was an obvious risk to passing boats, they have now completely removed all the panels of locks directly above the river and replaced them with wooden panelling, 'decorated' in modern graffiti. The approaches to the bridge however are still 'original' and there are small stalls and street hawkers close by selling padlocks (and even provide a waterproof marker pen to add your message), so when in Paris ..........

We had purchased a 'Paris Museum pass' online and this gave us skip the line access to the Louvre museum. The last time we were in Paris we had seen the Louvre but not actually been inside and I was quite amazed at the sheer size of the museum once you got below and beyond the 'glass pyramid'. My aim was to see the 'Mona Lisa' so we followed the signs which took us through many different exhibition halls on the way, all crammed with amazing artwork, statues and sculptures. Although there were thousands of people inside the Louvre it didn't appear busy until we got to the 'Mona Lisa', where everyone was crammed in and pushing their way to try and get a closer look at the not so big painting, which is much smaller than imagined (only 77 x 53 cm). The very famous Mona Lisa was painted by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci and has been acclaimed as the best known, most visited, most written about and most sung about, piece of art in the world, it has been on display at the Louvre since 1797.

Having walked the almost four kilometres from the Louvre and down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées we arrived at the famous Arc de triumph. Our Paris Museum pass once again allowed us to walk past the queued crowds and head straight up the many steps to the top. The views across Paris were great and as well as being able to see the twelve avenues that lead into the Arc de Triumph we also got our first peek at the Eiffel Tower In thirteen years.

An evening tour took us on a Seine river cruise and a twilight visit to the Eiffel Tower. As we cruised the Seine, sipping on champagne, our guide pointed out famous buildings and landmarks and talked about some of Paris's history. A short walk from the river took us to the Eiffel Tower, arriving on the second level just as the sun was disappearing below the horizon. A very pink sky made for some great photos and i'm sure at that point the tower must have been leaning towards the sunset as all the tourists headed to that side for photos. Before parting with our guide she took us to each side of the tower and pointed out buildings and landmarks across Paris. It was then into a shortish queue for the lift to the summit. When we got to the top it was windy, it was a little cool and it was dark but the views across Paris were amazing, so it was well worth the trip to the top.

The following morning after bidding farewell to Sarah & Farhaad and Doug & Janet, as they all headed back to New Zealand (coincidently on the same flight as far as Kuala Lumpur), Tony and I headed to Sacre-Cœur.

Sacre-Cœur, a Roman Catholic basilica, is a famous Paris landmark and is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. It's very grand white stone buildings can be seen across Paris and we had seen them the previous day from the Eiffel Tower and from the top of the Arch de Triumph. The area surrounding Sacre-Cœur was a hive of activity with a harp player entertaining the crowds on the steps at the front, a band singing french 'pop' music at the side and a short walk behind the basilica the Montmartre market where local artists were sitting painting and selling their artwork.

Following a brief walk around the Centre Pompidou (museum of modern art), we headed to the Luxembourg gardens, a beautiful 'green space' in the middle of Paris, not far from our hotel. At the Pompidou they have a great interactive area (for children, but fun to look around) and as well as an array of modern art, statues and sculptures there was some interesting paintings, some of which looked very similar to artwork proudly displayed on our fridge following busy days at Kindergarten about eighteen or twenty years ago.

The highlight of our last day in Paris however, had to be a 'Fat Tyre' night cycle tour of the city. After meeting near the Eiffel Tower and listening to a safety briefing from our Irish cycle guide Patrick, we headed off, with eighteen other tourists, into the streets of Paris. There are obviously very different laws in France from New Zealand, or the ground is far softer, but nobody wears cycle helmets, it was reassuring however that we had to wear 'reflective high-vis vests'.

We rode mainly through quieter back streets, however a couple of times we did end up in very busy streets with cars and buses as far as the eye could see. The drivers in central Paris do however appear to be very used to cyclists and were generally quite polite. After cycling through the Latin Quarter and past the Notre Dame cathedral we headed to Berthillon (reported to be the most famous ice cream shop in Paris) to sample some delicious local gelato. We then cycled over the Ponte des Arts bridge arriving at the Louvre as the sun was setting. A ballerina was having professional photographs taken and it was amazing watching her doing 'high leaps' in front of the 'glass pyramid' of the Louvre as the sun set behind her. Our next stop was the river Seine for a 'night cruise'. The river, the buildings and landmarks looked quite different in the dark than they had the evening before and looking at the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower, as we cruised past, was another wow moment and a great way to finish our last night in Paris.