Friday we spent chilling around the villa. Wayan prepared some satay sticks and we had a bar-be-que. On our last visit we agreed that the only thing the villa was missing was a BBQ. Gordon arranged to purchase on before we went and it was waiting there for us. It was just a small unit but i did the trick. We left it as a donation for Pedro and Kerry’s Villa.

Saturday was my sister Ann’s 50th birthday – it was also Derby Day. This wasn’t lost on Ann so she arranged her birthday dinner at Sugar Ray’s (Sports) Bar. Dinner was nice and was nice to see Ann and John. The bar was full of Eagles supporters. The Dockers should have won the match but gave it away with similar errors. All in all it was a good night.

Sunday again lazing around the pool. At night we decided to go to Frankensteins Laboratory. We had heard this was a good fun night out. Our family was joined by Jacqui and Ashanti. Gordon and Cristy didn’t fancy it and had some alone time in the their Villa.

It was indeed a good night out. The food and drinks were good and reasonably priced the cabaret shows were no extra cost. There was a live band playing mainly older rock classics. The were very good and interacted with the audience very well. The dance show were called the “Zombie Crew”. They were a very talented street style dance crew. The first set was based around Micheal Jackson songs, while the the second set was newer hip hop style songs. It was fast paced with some humorous parts. Jane has told the staff it was Jacqui’s birthday, so of course they had her on stage twerking to the happy birthday song. Jacqui said she was so embarrassed, but we all knew she loved it. Jane and Jacqui were also invited on stage dancing to Mama Mia.

Monday was Cristy’s birthday. We were here for Christy’s birthday last year. This time was a little more subdued. The girls wanted to explore the shopping in Seminyak and Gordon wanted to buy a dress for Cristy. Gordon and I did some cocktail bar hopping as the girls shopped. It was a pleasant albeit boozy afternoon.

That night we at dinner at Mano Beach House, a relatively new beach club close to Potatohead Beach club. The food and cocktails were great and the view of the beach was nice. The girls dressed up in yellow and white and took a million photos.

Tuesday was a another day traveling into Legian and Kuta. Jane was getting her tattoo, Cristy and I were picking up canvas prints, and all the girls were getting their hair or nails done.

Jane’s tattoo was a small replica of Chewy’s paw print on her ankle.

Back to the Villa for dinner – another BBQ.

Our last day consisted on two meals in Nook restaurant. We went there for breakfast on a recommendation. It was very nice and we booked for dinner.

After breakfast we visited W hotel. Its a high end hotel on the beach at Seminyak. It’s famous for its bamboo tunnel entrance. I’d seen many photos in Instagram and wanted to see and take my own photos.

Out last dinner was at Nook, without Cristy who was feeling ill. Food was a again great. We came home relatively early and Jane and I weren’t ready for bed and there was still some booze left. We took it upon ourselves to knock it off. We stayed up to about 1 am talking BS and drinking.

Thursday was home time. We made out way to the airport about 12.30 for our 3.40 flight. On check-in we found out I;d only booked for 25 kg for the four of us. This caused all sorts of confusion and resulted in rapid re-shuffle of our cases. In the end it didn’t matter because ultimately I had to buy another 15 kg. At $40 this wasn’t a huge burden.

All up it was another fantastic Bali getaway. Travelling with 8 people at times was trying, but learning to relax and accept the differences in people was the key to enjoying the trip.

We had so much fun in Bali April 2018 with Gordon and Cristy we thought we’d do it again. And here we are back at Villa Taman Hijau for ten days for relaxation. This time we have a party of eight. We’re joined by our kids, Bettina and Bianca, Our friend Jacqui and her daughter Ashanti. We’ve booked Villa Taman Hijau and the one next door, Villa Taman Rahasia. These two beautiful villas are in Kerobokan, near Seminyak.

We don’t have any great plans for the ten days, its all about getting away from the daily grind and relaxing.

Breakfast in the villa

Dinner at Ling lings

Bettina’s duck

I’ve titled this post “Bali for all” because just about everyone we know is here. Apart from those already mentioned:

My sons

My sons are here with their girlfriends and my ex-wife. My ex-wife, Joy had arranged this staying in Sanur. I tried to arrange a big get together, but it all got too hard, so I didn’t see them at all. They are leaving today, so they’ll miss Ann’s birthday dinner.

My Sister

My sister, Ann is turned 50 years old today. She’s staying in Jayakarta hotel, near Legian. We’re meeting her for dinner at Sugar Ray’s bar. It had to be a sports bar, because of course the Western Derby is on tonight #freoforever. Hopefully its a memorable night … and for Ann too.

Conrad

Conrad was also here with a couple of mates. We caught up for a beer in Legend bar in Garlic Lane.

Bettina’s “in-laws”

Bettina’s boyfriend’s family are here staying in Ubud and Kuta. Bettina left our villa with our driver Made, Tuesday night and met them at the airport. They then went on to their hotel in Ubud. Bettina has been staying with them ever since. She’s coming back “home” tonight and coming with us to Ann’s birthday dinner. We caught up with them Thursday night for Teppanyaki dinner at Bluefin restaurant.

Needs more petrol

The people that made it to the teppanyaki dinner

We arrived back at the villa with news that Gordon lost his phone. When they got back to the villa Gordon realised he’d left his phone in the taxi, or so he’s thought. Luckily the villas have cctv and they managed to find the footage of them arriving and getting out the taxi. They could see that Gordon had put his phone on the roof of the taxi while helping the others unload. The taxi drove off with the phone still on the roof! Everyone went out looking down the street for the phone, because it had surely fallen off. Gordon did have the licence plate for the taxi and contacted the company, Blue Bird. Incredibly they called back and they had his phone! It had stuck to the roof and took a trip to Jimbaran Bay (probably fancied a seafood dinner). The driver found it still on the roof and retrieved it. He brought it back unscathed to a surprised, albeit relieved Gordon and Cristy. After last year’s Passport incident, what have you go in store for next year Gordon?

The Labor day long weekend in Perth falls in early March. Very unusual time by world standards, but we’re not complaining.

We decided to take an extra day off and go to Singapore for 4 days. One of these was spent at Universal Studios, perhaps the only attraction in Singapore we haven’t seen.

We were lucky enough to be offered accommodation from our new friends Mike and Dorilyn at their house in Bedok. We’d met Mike and Dorilyn last year in Bali (Black Ops IV).

Accommodation in Singapore is expensive and to score free digs in a private house is like gold. Mike’s house is massive by Singapore standards. He had a unit in Bedok Court and was lucky enough to buy the apartment above it and convert it to a six bedroom two storey place. Jane and I had one room with ensuite and the girls had another room up stairs. Better than a hotel! We can’t thank Mike and Dorilyn for their hospitality. It was really fantastic of them to let us use their home.

We arrived late, around 2 am and caught a taxi to their place. They met us at the door and showed us to our rooms. Not much time for chit-chat – straight to bed.

The next morning we awoke fairly late and joined Mike at the local eatery for breakfast. We had the local coffee and selected some noodle dishes. Mike ordered some roti. Very nice way to start the holiday, although the girls were looking forward to a Jollibee breakfast. We promised them lunch instead.

We caught a “Grab” taxi into Bugis Juntion to start the shopping expedition. There is no Uber in Singapore. Everyone uses Grab instead, We used it a few times while we were there. It works exactly like Uber and is easy to use and reliable.

I released the chains and let the wild animals free. We shopped at Bugis Junction, Bugis street markets, then caught the MRT to Orchard road. First stop on Orchard road was Lucky Plaza and Jollibee, The girls were looking forward for their first Filipino junk food fix in over seven years. They went to town!

Although Jane bought a few pairs of shoes, the girls weren’t too successful with their shopping. Either too expensive or “too Asian” were the reasons given. hahaha

We went back home where Mike and Dorliyn’s helper had cooked a “bomb”. After filling our bellies, we spent the rest of the evening drinking and laughing.

For the second day, Dorliyn suggested the girls go to Changi City Point Mall. This mall is close to their place and specialises in factory outlet shops – and it has a Jollibee as well. Dorilyn drove the girls there and left them to their own devices. We joined Mike, Dorilyn and their kids, Shaun and Stephanie (Fifi) for chicken rice at a specialty hawker centre walking distance from their place.

The Chicken Rice was great and very cheap. Its great to get away from the touristy spots and experience great local food. Thanks again to the Harrisons.

We messaged the girls in the afternoon to see how they were going. The were loving the place and Jane decided she needed to go to (and buy even more shoes). So we caught and Grab taxi and joined them for a couple of hours, I even manged to buy myself a pair of pants.

Back home in time for Mike to drive us to one his restaurants, Boomarang. Boomarang is an Australian style sports bar and restaurant, catering for ex-pats who are tired of endless, noodles, chicken rice and laksa. Mike insisted on paying the bill. The food was very good and the service outstanding… but of course it would be for the owner.

Back home again for drinkies, tsismis and laughs.

The next morning was our Universal Studios day. We were up early have breakfast across the road and then catch a taxi to Sentosa Island. If you’re wondering why we’re catching taxis all the time, instead of taking advantage of Singapore’s wonderful public transport system it because when there’s four of you, it’s quite economical to get a taxi. Taxi (and Grab) fares are quite reasonable and of course its a door to door service. Catching the MRT would cost us four fares each time.

Far Far Away

The Cylon rollercoaster

Hard to get a selfie these days

Universal Studios

Jurassic Park

Cylon riders

Its a long day! We got there at the park’s opening time (10.00am) and left about 7.30pm.

The park itself is not very big compared to Universal Studios in Hollywood, But there’s enough to do and see in a day. We started with the Transformers 3D ride which was pretty good. We then made our way to the park’s main attraction – the “dueling” Human vs Cylon Battlestar Gallactica roller coaster. Bettina, Bianca and I went on the Cylon one first. After a 45 minute wait time we boarded the hanging chairs and we were blasted around the track at blistering speeds. Jane joined us for the Human side of the roller coaster. This was a “car” types and was quite fast, although not as intense as the Cylon. Jane pooped her panties anyway.

We went on most other rides including the “Revenge of the Mummy” (too dark), “Jurassic Park River Rapids” (too wet), Madagascar (too kiddy) and the “Puss in Boots Giant Journey” (not bad). All were pretty good, but Bianca and I couldn’t resist going on the Cylon ride one more time. It was late in the day so there was no waiting time.

One the way home we stopped at Tampines mall to pick up some last minute pasalubongs and a quick dinner. Long and tiring day, but very enjoyable.

The next day was our flight home. Mike and Dorilyn took us to the airport, again showing us their wonderful hospitality.

It was a great little weekender. Love to do it again sometime.

We chose to stay in AirBnB accommodation, rather than hotels on this trip. The reasons were cost and flexibility. Hotels in both Paris and Amsterdam near the city centre were quite expensive. AirBnb allowed a lot of options close to major attractions with a reduced cost. Of course you don’t get all of the niceties of a Hotel, like housekeeping and fresh towels.

Paris

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/29356682

It was quite small. The shower space was very small. The bed was comfortable and the radiator heater kept the place relatively warm. The WIFI was very reliable and fast.

The location was great, just around the corner for the Eiffel Tower and 100 m from a Metro (train) station. There were plenty of restaurants in the area and a mini-supermarket right next door.

One on the main reason we chose this place is because it had an elevator. We had read many reviews of other places where there was no elevator and guests had to lug their baggage up several flights of stairs. This place had an elevator, however it was so small it would only fit one person and one suitcase. We had to take two trips!

My review on AirBnb:

We stayed at Calandra’s place for 5 nights January 2019. The place was small, but we expected that from the photos on the site. The photos are realistic. All amenities are there and working. The location is great. Right next to Bir Hakiem metro station and walking distance to Eiffel Tower. Calandra’s communication is excellent. We arrived early and Calandra kindly allowed us to check in early and offered a late check out too. The early check-in was a great relief after a long flight from Australia. I would definitely recommend this apartment for couples travelling to Paris for a short time.

Bathrrom

Kitchen

Coffee machine was nice

Creepy photo

The bed was comfortable

Hallway

Amsterdam

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/2976795

We arrived at Amsterdam about 11 am and caught an Uber to our AirBnb north on the city. Our host Rene, met us at the door and explained how to get into the city and suggested nearby shops and restaurants. He showed us to the apartment, which was the lower level of their house. It was a beautiful space, with lots of room and a nice garden outside.

It was a fair way out side the city and getting into the city was a little difficult. There was a number of options: Walk (25 mins) down to the free ferry; Walk to the bus stop (10 mins) – bus to the metro station (3.20 euros each); Walk to the metro station (15 mins) (3.20 euros each); Uber (10-12 euros). We tried all methods, except walking directly to the Metro.  3.20 euros for such a short public transport trip seemed excessive. Uber wasn’t the fastest option either, as driving around the canals and waterways isn’t easy.What method you use all depends on the weather and how sore your feet are.

The bed was large and super comfortable. The shower was large enough and had plenty of pressure. It even had a sauna (extra cost), although we didn’t use it.

It really was a beautiful place. The only thing it lacked was a microwave oven.

Rene allowed us to check-put late at 1 pm, as we had a late-ish train back to Paris.

Very comfy bed

Spacious living area

Kitchen with most amenities (missing a microwave oven)

Big Bathroom

Back yard

Handy map of the area with directions into the city

Outside the front

Paris over-nighter

Mercure Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle

We arrived back at Paris late and as we had an early flight in the morning we decided to grab a hotel near the airport. At around $150/night it was quite reasonable. It was nice, but nothing special. One annoyance was the WIFI wasn’t working when we arrived. It was working by the morning.

We ate in their restaurant “before PARIS“. We shared a steak and fries and a couple of glasses of Proseco. The steak was cooked to perfection. Very delicious.

My Tripadvisor review:

We stayed here one night to be close to the airport for an early flight out of Paris. We just needed a nice room, shower and WIFI.
The room was nice, clean and comfortable. The shower was ok (although, in a bathtub)
But the hotel WIFI was not operational when we checked in. This was important to us to communicate to family back in Australia.
The WIFI was working again by the morning, but it was quite annoying. The front desk staff apologised, but didn’t really seem to care. 
For this alone I’m marking the rating down

Our third and last full day in the Netherlands was dominated by a tour to Zaanse Shans, Marken and Volendam. This tour took us to the Dutch countryside, which is only really 30 minutes from the city. The scenery quickly changes from urban to rural in minutes.

The Dutch countryside in a word is flat. Low lying ground, mostly under sea level is carefully managed to prevent flooding. The Dutch are masters at water management.

First stop was Zaanse Shans to see the Dutch iconic windmills. The tour guide took us into an operational windmill to listen to the Miller explain how it all works. This particular windmill is used to cut wood. 400 years ago this was a major advancement in technology and enabled the Netherlands to create a vast navy.

The second stop was the town of Marken to see clogs being made. Marken was an island that has been converted to an peninsula by the construction of a long dyke.

We then caught a boat to Volendam. Voledam is a sea side fishing village. It reminded me of Fremantle with bars and cafes on the water, the smell of the sea and sea gulls cawing.

We had a cheese making demonstration with free tastings. All the cheeses were great. We bought two of the aged Edam cheeses.

We we’re funneled into a restaurant for lunch. They assured us they authentic Dutch dishes here, like Kipfler – which just looked like fish and chips to me. Jane and I shared a seafood soup.

We explored the town by ourselves for a little bit before watching he Stroopwafels demonstration. Stroopwafels are delicious. We bought a few packets to bring home.

Back into city. We had a canal cruise as part of the countryside tour and even though we’d already been on one we did it again. This time it was packed and we had to sit on the outside part. It was freezing!

We continued to explore the city, shops, red light districts, sex stores and coffee shops.

They really enjoy the high life here.

The next day we prepared for our train ride back to Paris.

The weather was gloomy so the scenery wasn’t much to watch. We arrived in Paris about 8 pm and got an Uber to our hotel near the airport for our last night in Europe.

I’m sitting here at Charles De Gaulle airport waiting for our long flight to Singapore when onto Perth. I’m reflecting on our wonderful trip. Highlights for me were: seeing the Eiffel tower for the first time; our first french meal of cheese, meats and bread; Montmarte tour; Anne Franks house; the Windmills at Zaanse Shans.

We really had a great time, although some sadness with news we lost out little friend.

One of the main reasons we wanted to visit Amsterdam was to see Anne Frank’s house. Jane has read her diary (and seen the movie) and is fascinated by her story. We had booked tickets before the trip. The museum was very well done. There was a route through the main house and annex where the family hid from the Germans for over two years. Each room had a running commentary of the things that happened. Knowing the story is one thing, being in the place where it actually happened was quite eerie. I thoroughly recommend the tour, although it leaves you with a reminder of the terrible things that happened at that time. Unfortunately photos inside the house are no permitted, so I cannot share any photos here.

We continued walking the streets of Amsterdam and stopped for lunch in Wurst & Schnitzelhaus, a German restaurant. They had a schnitzel lunch offer for 9 euros.

After lunch we walked down to the Van Gogh museum. I’d always had an interest in Vincent van Gogh ever since primary school where I wrote an assignment on the man. It was also interesting because we’d previously visited Montmarte, where Van Gogh lived after moving to Paris. When we got to the museum we were told they had “sold out” and there were no more tickets for the day. Bummer.

We decided to go to the Rijksmuseum instead which was right next door. This is the biggest museum in Amsterdam and has works of Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

We walked back into the city and through the streets of the red light district. It was fascinating to see the girls in the windows selling their “wares”. No photos allowed though.

We ate dinner at Saint Morris Argentinian Restaurant. Its funny when you’re in a city, you can find all sorts of cuisines, other than that of the host country. There were no Dutch style restaurants to be found. We shared a steak, chips and salad. Jane ordered a side of Chicken wings.  We managed to eat it all, after our epic walking day.

Later back at the house we realised we’d walked 11.8 km. We still have time for a glass of wine before bed.

for Chewy. 1/2/2019

We awoke early to catch the Metro to Gare du Nord, The busiest train station in Europe for our train trip to Amsterdam.

We arrived at Gare du Nord with the news that Chewy, our beloved dog was coughing badly and gasping for breath. Bettina, at home in Perth was messaging us asking what should do. We told her to take chewy to the vet. Chewy had been coughing for months and over the last few weeks he was eventually diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. We didn’t know how long he’d last. I felt confident we had a few more months with him. The vet rang me and confirmed our biggest fears. Chewy was struggling to breathe and was deteriorating fast. She recommended we send him to heaven.

It was a heartbreaking moment and relating that to Bettina over the phone was extremely sad. Bettina loved Chewy dearly and I knew this was probably the hardest thing she has ever done. To her credit she knew what had to be done and her and Bianca were there with him at the end. It was hard for Jane and I to be so far away during this time. Out train ride to Amsterdam was very solemn.

We arrived at Amsterdam about 11 am and caught an Uber to our AirBnb north on the city. Our host Rene, met us at the door and explained how to get into the city and suggested nearby shops and restaurants. He showed us to the apartment, which was the lower level of their house. It was a beautiful space, with lots of room and a nice garden outside. As we were unpacking it started to snow, So beautiful.

We then walked down the canal to catch the free ferry into the city.

My first impression of Amsterdam: I smells like marijuana. I knew it was legal here, but I never expected to smell it everywhere. It was mostly when you past people on the street you can smell it on their clothes. Very odd!

We decided to do a canal cruise straight away to get a feel for the city and get around with walking so much. It was quite interesting with lots of bridges and buildings.

We walked around the city and bought some cheese, meats and bread to take home for dinner. We stopped at the Centraal station to have a beer and reminisce about our old mate before Ubering home.

Rest in peace little buddy.

Day Four in Paris.

Laundry

As I mentioned in the previous post, we had damp underwear we had to dry. There was a laundromat near our apartment and within 10 minutes we had dry thermals again.

On the way back we stumbled upon a market under the railway tracks selling everything from socks to fish. Jane couldn’t resist and bought herself a jacket. I bought a extra thick beanie.

We had Breakfast at Secco Patisserie. This was a delight. I ordered a ham and cheese baguette, Jane had a plain crepe and a small croissant.

After, we continued strolling through the markets.

Lunch

When we got back to apartment we changed and got ready for our lunch at the Eiffel Tower. I had booked this before the trip. It allowed us to skip the line to go up the tower and to tick off one of Jane’s “must dos”.

The lunch was a “picnic” style 3 course lunch with a beer or wine. We were lucky enough to get a window seat. We were looking out over the Seine towards Trocadero. It was a clear day, so we were feeling magical. It was really a nice lunch.

Unfortunately the top level of the tower was closed for renovation. A disadvantage of travelling in the off-peak season I guess.

Louvre

After lunch we decided to visit the world famous Musée du Louvre. This is probably the best known museum in the world, and is home to the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

We arrived fairly late which meant no queue to get in. We didn’t have time to see much. The tour guide said you need months to see all 35,000 pieces, Like 80% of visitors we headed straight towards the Mona Lisa, or as the French call her “La Joconde“. There was a big crowd all around it all trying getting a small Mona Lisa image on the their phone.

We spent the remaining time strolling trough random rooms. We stumbled across the Egyptian exhibition which was cool. We kept having to stop and sit to ease our aching feet.

We left the Louvre and made our way to Rome on the Metro.

Rome

No we didn’t go to the Rome. We met Jane’s Aunty in Rome, Paris, just outside the city. Jane hadn’t seen Tita Del in around 20 years. It was nice to catch up with her and her 20 year old son Jay. They treated us to dinner at Mama Primi a very nice Italian restaurant. Jay impressed us with his fluent French and ordered a couple of cheese starters, then two pizzas. Jane had a Bloody Mary and I had a Himalayan Mule. All the food and drinks were delicious. The only problem was we had an outside table and it was very difficult to stay warm. We finished with coffee at a nearby coffee shop. It was a nice evening and was great to meet Del and Jay.

Day Five in Paris.

This was our last day in Paris, before travelling to Amsterdam in the morning.

We decided to take things easy as do some shopping.

We traveled to La Défense. The business district with a large shopping mall on the outskirts of the city. Jane bought some stuff for the girls at Sephora.

We caught the Metro back into the city to the Garnier Opera house. This is arguably the most famous opera house in the world and is the setting for the book (play/musical) “The Phantom of the Opera“. This truly an opulent building. So much artistry from the window knobs to the ceilings. It’s hard to imagine building a place like this.

We left the opera house and intended to go to the Musée d’Orsay but our feet were screaming “no more!” at us so we decided to head home for dinner and rest.

We had dinner at Bistro Dupleix near the apartment. We decided to be very french and ordered escargots in garlic butter. We also shared the confit duck leg and potatoes. Very nice way to round out a tiring day.

Big day tomorrow. Off to Amsterdam.

Tuesday we woke early again. We ate left overs for breakfast and went out at sunrise for some more photos. This time at the bridge at Bir Hakiem near our apartment. The bridge has a sculpture of Joan of Arc overlooking the Seine.

We then made our way around the tower to join up with a hop-on-hop-bus. We hadn’t booked it, but I knew we could pay on the bus. We chose Big Bus. It has two bus lines and a boat ride up and down the Seine.

We braved the cold and sat on the top deck. And it was cold!

The red route took as past all the popular tourist attractions including the Eiffel Tower, Opéra Garnier, Louvre, Place Vendôme, Notre Dame, Musée D’orsay, Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, Grand Palais / Petit Palais, Trocadéro. We decided to hop off on the Champs Elysées. We took some photos of the Arc de Triomphe, braving the traffic in the middle of the road like all the other tourists. I wanted to buy my watch at Skagen and Jane did some perfume shopping. We had a coffee and Nutella crepe because we were freezing.

Back on board the bus. This particular bus had a English speaking guide who was quite entertaining.

We rode right around again and alighted at the Garnier Opera. We will visit this Grand Opera house later, but now Jane wanted to do some shopping at Galeries Lafayette. When first entered we were confronted with foods of every kind. It was hard to resist buying something. We caved and bought a couple of macarons. When is France…

We transferred to the Blue bus line. This line went through Montmarte, Sacre Coeur and Gare du Nord. As we’d already experienced Montmarte on our walking tour, we stayed on the bus on the lower deck out of the cold.

We transferred back to red line to go the boat terminal near the Eiffel Tower. We had a 40 minute wait in the cold for the next boat. On hindsight, it probably wasn’t worth it. The boat ride was nice enough, but quite hard to see things properly at night from inside the boat. The ride was from the Eiffel Tower to Notre-Dame and back taking about one hour. When we got back it was snowing. The first snow we’d seen in Paris.

We had dinner on the walk back to the apartment at Le Bistro de la tour – nothing special.

Back at the apartment we decided to wash out thermal underwear. We both have been wearing it for a few days now and needed a freshen up. It was hard to use the washing machine because all the instructions were it French (of course). We translated some words and pressed a few buttons and got it working. We soon realised it was only a washer – not a dryer. So we would have to find a laundromat tomorrow – we really need them.

Our body clocks were still adjusting to French time so we woke early – 5am and it was a good three and a half hours until sunrise. We ate our leftover cheese and bread from the day before’s lunch before getting up to walk to Place du Trocadéro for a sunrise photo shoot of the Eiffel Tower. We have seen many photos from this spot and Jane wanted to do a fashion shoot from there.

We were in luck, the sunrise was stunning.

We caught an Uber to the Moulin Rouge, We weren’t yet savvy with the metro so we thought we’d better take the safe option because we had a 10.30 deadline for our Walking tour on Montmartre. Turns out we got there early. As we’d eaten breakfast early and it was a little chilly we had a ham, cheese and egg crepe from a street side stall. Another Paris “must do”. It was delicious and really hit the spot.

Montmartre is an old village style part of Paris best know for the birth place of Bohemia and artists challenging the old rules of art, Artists such as Picasso, Toulouse Lautrec and Van Gogh lived there. It was also the seedy part of town where both the rich and poor came to have fun. The Moulin Rouge and its famous Can Can dance also grew out of this area,

Personally, I loved the narrow cobbled streets, the little shops and cafes and the quaint buildings. Parisennes love the area and work hard to retain its charm.

We made out way through the winding streets, forever climbing the hill to Sacre Coeur. Our guide had many stories about the artists and establishments of the time. I’m glad we did to walking tour to really get a feel for the area, Later we caught the hop on hop off bus and drove through the area. It didn’t have the same impact as actually walking through the streets yourself. I thoroughly recommend the walking tour.

The tour concluded at the magnificent Sacre Coeur Basilica. As its an active church, it has free entry, After we sat on the steps with some mulled wine and gazed over the commanding views over the city.  A man was playing harp. It seemed too magical to be true.

We then made our way via the Metro to the famous Notre-Dame in the Île de la Cité.

Notre-Dame is a stunning cathedral, although viewing directly after Sacre Coeur, it seemed a little less magnificent. I would suggest seeing them on different days,

We crossed the Seine and had a late lunch a Cafe Panis I ordered a chicken club sandwich which of course I couldn’t finish. Jane had a baguette with jam. Jane raved about her hot chocolate.

Home for a short nap then back around the Eiffel Tower for some night shots. We stopped for dinner at a nearby cafe and ordered (too much again) four cheese spaghetti before hitting the sack exhausted.