Baguettes, beer and 2 babes

Bonjour amis et famille!
Welcome to our little site! I hope I can update this often, and brag/ tell you about all of our adventures. Get comfortable people, you know I always have a lot to say!!
Our grand adventure started on monday the 23rd of march. Trent and I said a blurry goodbye thanks to teary eyes and set off. (cue bragging) Fortunately I nabbed a seat in Business class, wallowed in a champagne and some chocolates and generally started to have a great time. My poor, but better half flew economy but assures me his trip was just fine. After hours waiting between us in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London etc we made it to Paris, safe and sound...

We were buggered for our first day in Paris but ambled around our local streets and saw the Moulin Rouge, Sacre Couer and the sex district. The Moulin Rouge is very average looking during the day, becoming iconic at night when it is lit up. The Sacre Couer Basillica is quite beautiful and grand, and has free entry which is always a welcome change. And finally, the sex street, so named because the store fronts are called 'porno shop', 'sexodrome' and 'sex shop'. there really is no mistaking where you are!!



Day 2, we ventured further and visited the Louvre (9euro entry, a bargain considering how expensive some Australian theme parks are). We saw the obligatory sites...the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo etc but I was most impressed with the opulence of Napoleon's apartments. This man was a diva. We spent a good 4 hours navigating our way though Van Gough, Rafael and Leonardo and left for the Notre Dame Catherdral. Not as impressive in real life as maybe we had expected, but certainly beautiful on the inside. The stain glass is incredible. I found out later that the veil Mary was believed to be wearing as she gave birth to Jesus is housed here. Entry was free, which again...is awesome when youre travelling on the Aussie dollar.
As we walked the streets we accidentally found ourselves in 2 separate protests...I still dont know what they were for; but we did our part for the working french folk.

Taking the metro to the other side of the River Seine, we descended into the depths of the Parisian Catacombes (4euro). Here, right in the underground heart of Paris, is literally millions of human bones. Starting in the 1780's, the bodies from Paris' overflowing cemeteries were exhumed and moved to abandoned quarries, now known as the catacombes. For me, it wasn't scary, strange or unnerving to see such a large amount of skeletons, possibly because there are just too many to comprehend that they were once human beings. What I do find strange, is that the bones have been separated into matching pieces and made into walls and patterns. I couldn't help but think of someone yelling 'Hey! Pierre, throw me a head will you?! I have an empty spot here!'. Overall, a very unique experience.

The same day we visited the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and walked the Champs Elysees. All the big name boutiques are here...Louis Vuitton, Gucci etc. Cartier was a mind blowout, with a watch worth a mere 42000 euro in the window. The security guard had a little giggle at me when I swore out loud.

We caught the metro 'home' and walked by a small food market, which I'm sad to say, excited us more than the Eiffel Tower! We bought a crumble pomme and chocolate foundant and tried a local sweet which we were told contained no more ingredients than sugar and butter hehe. what arteries?!


On Saturday we met up with Andy Smith and walked to Place de Tetre and pigged out on a crocque monsieur and a crepe. Crepes are around 2 euro, so a nice cheap snack. We went out to Cafe Oz much later in the evening and found we were the only bloody Aussies there! It just meant more 5 euro Yagerbombs for us though. There wasn't a great nightlife near us (unless you wanted a sleazy show), so we called it a morning.
We woke late and took the metro to the Bastille markets which as we found out was mainly for fresh produce, but it will still great to see. The french really are spoilt for choice in their cuisine...there are beautiful meats, cheeses, chocolates..and everything so fresh.


Overall, we had a brilliant time visiting the monuments of Paris, but I personally had an even better time marvelling at the day to day life of french people. Everyday they buy their fresh baguettes from the boulangere, and nibble at the top as they're walking home. Millions of espressos are consumed everyday, and with most meals, it is a surprise they arent buzzing from caffeine overload. To address the popular stereotype that ALL french are arrogant, we have definitely found this to be untrue. There are some lovely people, with equal amounts of snobbery...just like any country. What I took away from our week in Paris is that as a whole, Parisians are just a bit conservative. Almost, dare I say...bland? I really didnt see much laughing or playing. This also goes with...their fashion! Yeh I just said that. The metro is a sea of grey and black trenches, and ultra boring shoes! The fashion was of a higher standard depending where we were, but sheesh! Bring on some colour! Bring on Morocco!! Until next time....
we love you all xo


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