Return to Paris

As I write this I am sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport wishing I didn't have to head back home! My first trip to Paris was probably 8 years ago and I was rather underwhelmed. I just didn't understand why everyone thought it was so wonderful. After my second trip in 2011 I started to change my mind, and now I would stay here at least another week if I could!

Arriving mid Sunday afternoon I had to get myself to Gare du Nord to meet Fran who had travelled over on the train. Armed with some rusty french and directions from our host we took on the task of finding our apartment for the next few days.

We had booked our apartment through airbnb, a first for both of us, and lets just say we will both be doing it again! It was so great to have a place that gave us that authentic Parisian lifestyle even if it was only for a few days.

We dumped our stuff and decided to head out for some exploring.

We took a walk along the Seine up to Notre Dame, which is just stunning! Even though it was starting to get late there were still hundreds of tourists looking up at the grand cathedral in awe. We joined them for a bit but our stomachs soon reminded us we hadn't had anything to eat.

We stopped at pretty much the first restaurant we came across and sat down for a beef foundue. It came with a heaps of chips, salad and some red wine of course.  After stuffing ourselves full of fondue  the waiter managed to convince us that creme brûlée was a good idea...and boy was he right!

After finishing off the wine and some coffee we headed back to the apartment so we could get some well needed rest in the hope we would wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed for a full day of exploring the next day.