Day one in Paris

Heading out for a coffee this morning, it’s hard to describe what sort of coffee you want in France, so it’s a bit hit and miss what you get.

This morning we were debating how to get around Paris. Decided to hire a couple of bikes. They have them all around town and you can pick one up at one spot and drop it at another. We over to Notre Dam to see how the renovation was going, then along the river where there are so many lovely old buildings, past the Dorsay Museum where we are hoping to visit, the queue to get in was miles long, so we keep going.

All went well until I opted for an electric one and couldn’t stop in time for a motorbike. My poor bike came off second best and the motorbike took off. Luckily no damage to me, the bike was not so fortunate. Bent the front wheel and when Graham eventually came back to find out where I was, he jumped on it a few times to straighten it out, at least enough to ride it to the next bike rack and dump it.

We went past the Grand Palais, it too is getting some restoration work done but the Petite Palais was open and free entry as well. Wow the building and gardens were beautiful, full of beautiful French artwork as well as antiques and sculptures. I can just imagine how ornate the grand Palais must be.

It is a glorious day today so we rode on then to the Eiffel tower, so many tourists lining up to climb it, or take the lift. Luckily we have done that and were just happy to see it from the park and take a few photos.

It’s freezing today even with the sun shining. We both have four layers on. It’s very easy to ride around Paris. Well it’s all flat and they have bikes lanes everywhere. So many bikes though and some of them zooming through the traffic everywhere. We got lost a bit after lunch and these two teenagers showed us the way back to the river. Just follow me this kid says. Holy hell, he was darting through the traffic everywhere. Was all we could do to keep up. Got us back on track though.Read more