Back to France. Yay!

Paris/Normandy

After Greece it was back to Paris to meet my Mum, Dad and Aunt for two and half weeks travelling around France.  We had rented a great apartment in the absolute middle of Paris and spent our days walking around with me as tour guide, showing them all the classic sights and sounds of Paris.  Fortunately, the warmer, sunnier weather finally decided to arrive.  It was great to pull out the shorts, t-shirts, sunnies and sandles. 

Friday, we did the Notre Dame, Latin Quarter and the Louvre

Notre Dame

Saturday, we discovered the markets, le Marais (Jewish Quarter – rather quiet on the Sabbath!), Place de Vosges, Bastille, Montmartre, Moulin Rouge and the Sacre Coeur – which was heaving with people making the most of the great weather to get out and about.

Sunday, we went early to queue for the Eiffel Tower as we knew that there were delays and long queues as all but one of the lifts were broken.  However, Dad and I still queued for three hours just to get up to the next level.  By the time we got to the top and down again it had been more than 4 hours and we were shattered.  So we enjoyed a nice lunch in a restaurant near the Eiffel Tower.  Re-fuelled we walked to the Trocadero and then over to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee, where I introduced my family to Sephora (the cosmetics store).  I love Sephora.

Eiffel Tower

Top of Eiffel Tower

Dad and I at the top of the Eiffel Tower

Lunch after our trip up the Eiffel Tower

Sephora

Monday, it was a day trip to the Loire Valley to see the Chateaux.  We visited three.  Chambord, Chenonceau and Chiverny.  Chiverny is the chateau that the illustrator of Tintin used for his inspiration.

Chambord

Chambord

The staircase designed by Leonardo Da Vinci.  its like a double helix where there are two stairwells intertwined that never meet

Chenonceau

Chiverny

Tuesday, we took some time out to relax in the morning and then spent the afternoon at the Chateau de Versailles.  This was my third time there, so I left my family to discover the Palace while I enjoyed the huge gardens.  For the first time, I was there while the fountains where working and they also had music to accompany them.  It was fantastic and very beautiful.  In the evening we also caught up one last time with Jason and Rebekah, as this was the end of their time in France and they were heaing back to the US soon after.  We enjoyed a great meal with traditional French dishes and wines, and it was great for my family to meet more of my friends over in France.

The fountains at Versailles

Wednesday, we ventured into Normandy, my old stomping ground.  To see Monet’s gardens.  A place that had always been on my ‘must see’ list as Monet is one of my favourite artists.  They were great.  Beautiful and just like the paintings.  The photos are cool because they resemble so much his famous works of art. 

The Japanese Bridge

In front of Monet's house and the garden

The next day it was back to L’Aigle, which was very exciting and emotional for me to see my friends and my old ‘home’ one last time.  It was great to introduce them and the town to my family.  My dad got the chance to experience local fishing and a traditional French meal.  In the evening, my friend had organised dinner for us all in a creperie where my family was able to meet everyone and try some typical French food and drink.  It was a great occasion.

Following that my family continued on to Bayeux to see the tapestry, the D-day beaches and Mt St Michel.  I had already done all of that and made the most of it to spend a few last days with my friends, before saying one more emotional farewell at the train station.

Normandy saw me off in typical fashion with a cold, rainy day.