11hrs after departing from Seoul, we arrived at CDG airport. The flight, while thankfully uneventful, was long and predictably boring, even with the usual movie marathon, so we were very happy to finally step onto french soil and breathe in some fresh air. Victor, our driver, was waiting for us and, with a running commentary all the way, delivered us safe and sound to our hotel in the 11th arrondissement. He was very friendly and it made a lovely welcome, after a very tiring trip. He told us he has been in the chauffeuring business for nearly 40 years, so I think he should be awarded a medal of bravery, since driving in Paris traffic is most definitely not for the faint hearted, something which was proved yet again yesterday.

This morning, (Monday) we woke up to a lovely sunny day and blue skies. Since we’d been told it had been raining for several days prior, we felt very priviledged.

On with the trusty walking shoes and off we went, firstly to l’église Notre-Dame, which we have seen many times before, but never fails to astound us each time we see it again.   It’s a magnificent and beautiful building and the last time we were in Paris, we were lucky enough to attend mass there, so hope we can do it again this trip. Not today though, as the crowds were huge..

Next, the Sorbonne, where we stopped for a ‘grand café crème’  (ordered in french, thank you very much) and sat and people watched, a favorite past time, for a quiet half and hour.

Then onto the Luxembourg Gardens.

‘Pauvre la famille de Medici’, they only had several hectares of prime land in the middle of Paris, with just a small house to live in. Oh yes, and a bit of a garden as well. We walked for a few hours around the ‘bit of a garden’ , which cannot be described as anything other than gorgeous, particularly now all the flowers are in bloom. The french reputation for symmetry was obvious and it has resulted in a very elegant, beautiful space. It’s great to see it is also really well utilised, as there were many people, both french and tourists alike, enjoying the amazing surroundings, eating lunch, chatting, reading and even playing chess!

We’d never taken a Batobus ride on previous trips, so decided that’s what we’d do this afternoon.  It’s a bit like a hop on, hop off bus, but is a boat instead, which stops at various points of interest along the Seine. However, at the ticket office I was told that they feared the river was about to flood, so all boats were on standby to stop within the hour. We had noticed earlier that the Seine was quite high and flowing extremely fast, so obviously the rain from the previous days was making it’s mark. So, ‘pas de Batobus pour nous’, that will now have to wait for another day.

The Georges Pompidou centre was next on the list. My list anyway, not Jeff’s so much. I love all styles of art and design, whereas he likes things that look exactly as they are. However, compromise is the name of the game and we are both happy to do it for each other. Jeff’s turn today, though… 

We ended the day with a wander through the Marais (4th arrondissement), just poking about. We both love it there, the feel of the place is fantastic and there is something (or someone!) interesting on every corner. We found again the Jewish ‘boulangerie’ that we had discovered last time we were here, on Rue des Rosiers. The best baklava in the world springs to mind, but really, everything they sell looks delicious. And the line up of dozens of people waiting to be served only reinforces our opinion. Only a tiny shop, but definitely well worth a visit, as much for the food as for the atmosphere.   

Back home, with an early night planned, after a quick visit to ‘le supermarché’ for the basics. Jet lag is creeping in. We are off on a 3 hour gourmet walking tour of the Latin quarter tomorrow morning and it starts at 9am, so ‘je ne peux pas faire la grasse matinée’ (no sleep in for me)!