Second day in Paris.

We are awake early this morning. Bloody jet lag makes it hard to sleep sometimes. We got a couple of bikes and rode along the river just as it was getting light. It so peaceful to be out and about before everybody is awake. The bridges, the gardens and the Louvre were virtually empty apart from a few groundsmen cleaning up. Gosh it is cold today though, the fickle sun has disappeared and the temperatures are dropping. We found a nice warm coffee shop to huddle in for a while with a cafe crème and a croissant.

The mission this morning is to visit the Dorsay Museum. the Dorsay is renowned for its rich collection of Impressionism art as well as sculptures and the amazing architecture of the historic railway station it is housed in. The most famous being Monet and Van Gogh. So many people lined up to get in, luckily it’s a massive museum and they all disappeared very quickly once we got inside. We spent a lovely few hours in there looking at the different painting we’d only seen on tv.

Just as we were about to leave we came across one of the restaurants, wow what a fabulous room, so of course we had to have lunch in there. Along with quite a few other fellow museum goers. It really was a lovely lunch though in a great atmosphere.

On the bikes again this afternoon and up to visit Sacre Coeur. I’m glad we opted for the electric ones on this trip. It was all uphill and then really uphill at the end. Pretty sure we went through the ghetto of Paris to get there too. I wasn’t game to stop, despite the horrendous traffic and the evil kin-evil other bike riders.

Holy it was packed up there, so many people about. Gorgeous view of the city from the steps of Sacre Coeur though and lots of fabulous artists in Montmartre painting portraits. Must be cool to be able to paint like that.

Now the problem of course is the return trip down the hill and now it’s even busier with everyone on their way home. I think I deserved a medal for staying on two wheels, almost stacked it a few times when someone stepped out in front of me or took the red light going the other way. Finally we got back to civilisation and couldn’t find anywhere to leave the bikes. They have to go back in a rack and there needs to be a spare slot. I was ready to dump the bloody things but luckily we finally found an empty slot.

We needed a drink after that nerve wracking experience and found the perfect bar for our last night.Read more