Europe on a Shoestring: Warming to Paris- well, hotting up anyway

Paris's hottest October day in history- 29 degrees I heard- not hot by Aussie standards but quite stifling when all you have are thermals and winter clothes! I ended up buying two t-shirts yesterday anticipating a hot day today and I was not disappointed. The day did not start well with Keeley having to stay up until 4am deleting one by one all the photos I have posted on Facebook for the past few days- they all doubled up and went to her wall as well as mine- not sure why, but she was not a happy chappy. So if you didn't see my Paris and end of Ireland photos when I posted them, sorry. They were pretty ordinary anyway. I have many skills but photography is definitely not one of them. I really don't know why I bother. Both Keeley and Kiryn, and now Stacey, take amazingly good photos.

Oh, I am all out of sync here. Stacey ended up joining us last night from Nantes and took us out on a tour of the artistic installations in the Montmartre area, not that my feet needed any more walking. Elizabeth and I lasted till after midnight, and Keeley arrived back at our hotel at 2.30am. Stacey stayed on to see as many displays as she possibly could. Not having an artistic bone in my body, I tried to appreciate what they call art, but I obviously missed the point of many of them, even though Stacey was translating what the artist was trying to achieve.

Elizabeth couldn't wait until Keeley and I woke up so headed off to breakfast early. By the time we were ready to go, it was almost lunchtime so I decided we'd bus our way to the Luxembourg Gardens to have a picnic lunch, stopping at the supermarket en route to pick up some vittles, but the supermarket was closed! It is Sunday after all but there were dozens of sex shops open which implies that Parisians will go without food before they will do without sex! We eventually found a patisserie and bought some baguettes and pastries and water for lunch, found the yellow bus pick up point, and hopped on. We changed onto the green bus at La Place de la Madeleine, hopped off at Notre Dame, walked down to the orange stop, buying a Paris cap on the way, hopped on the orange bus, and then off again at Le Jardin de Luxembourg to enjoy our picnic lunch which we did until a garden gendarme told Keeley to get off the grass. We couldn't find toilets but spied a McDonalds across the road, only to be informed we had to buy something BEFORE we were allowed to use the toilet and the lines were the longest I have seen in any Maccas anywhere. There weren't even lines- just the whole floor area was crammed with people!

I snuck into the toilet while the security guard wasn't looking while Keeley and Elizabeth abided by the law and waited till they had finished their Magnum Flurry and Mango-Passion Frappe. Now to navigate our way back by the shortest possible means. We hopped back on the orange bus, and hopped off at Esplanade des Invalides, walked along le Quai d'Orsay, across Le Pont de la Concorde ( bridge), over La Place de la Concorde, along a lane ( where Keeley got in trouble with the gendarmes again- for walking on the road!) and back to pick up our yellow bus home. It was after 5 when we finally arrived, all eager for a cold shower.

We headed out for dinner at the local pizza/pasta place but when we found it closed, we tried L'Ertine Bistro just round the corner- a 3 course meal for 16.50 euro- bargain! Tuna salad for entree, steak and bearnaise sauce and chips for mains, and REAL creme caramel for dessert! All washed down with two bottle of rose!

Back to room 11 for a game of cards and a few more drinks before bed. Slept very soundly despite the noise from the street. I keep thinking of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night. Woke up and tried a new place for breakfast, 6.50 euro for orange juice, tea, croissant and baguette with butter and strawberry jam. I had finished my baguette before Elizabeth had finished buttering hers, and I wasn't even hungry! Stacey, Kiryn and Keeley are going cycling to the cemetery that has many famous people interred there while Lorelle, Elizabeth and I are doing the laundry. So exciting! Also did some grocery shopping to try to avoid outrageous prices in Norway and I bought a new backpack that I hope is going to be more user friendly.