France, Paris

A big day today, the highlight of Roge's holiday. We've got tickets for the finish line at the Tour de France. We haven't actually picked up the tickets yet and Roge is getting just a little anxious. The guy who has the tickets hasn't contacted him yet but I'm pretty sure it'll work out....we have a few hours yet to go. We have wandered around the corner to a cafe for breakfast. I think this'll be our "go too" place for brekkie for the next 3 days as it's pretty good and not badly priced. We had forgotten how expensive Paris is. To kill a bit of time we walked to the "Conciergerie" a Royal Residence and prison dating from the 6th century but having had a number of additions along the way. This building is right by the river and a place we have walked past many times before and not noticed. I have to say it is one of the most interesting places we've visited in Paris, and not just because it's not all Louis XVI' lavishness. It was used as as a small prison during the time of the revolution. It's where Marie Antoinette came to have her head removed. In one small room there was a basket of hair and some shears - apparently prisoners had their hair cut so as not to impede the blade of the guillotine. You really can't begin to imagine how bad these places must have been. At last! We have a rendezvous to pick up the tickets! Yay! We'd had to jump on a train and head to Port Maillot quite a few stops away. We'll walk to the Champs Élysées from there. The security for this event became apparent pretty early on - 3 or 4 stations either side of the Champs Élysées were closed - our train expressed right through, luckily we didn't need to get off at any of them. We picked the tickets up without a hitch and made our way the finish line. It took us quite a while to find the way in to the restricted area - so many police, so many big guns. Once in we were in a pretty ritzy area with only two hundred people. Plenty of gorgeous food available all day and an open bar....cocktail at 6 was fantastic, best Mojitos!!! Could easily be my new summer drink. We had great spots right on the barrier and directly opposite a big screen and right on the finish and so close to all the action and excitement- perfect. It was an absolutely fantastic event. Check out the pic's!!!Read more