Paris, France

We all woke after a good night of rest looking forward to another day in Paris. We set off early to the Musee deCluny which is dedicated to art of the modern age. Rather odd as it is housed over one of the most ancient sites in Paris, a bath house, dating back to Roman times. A French conundrum there! The collection of jewellery; necklaces and brooches…yes ….brooches was amazing, prompting me to ask if they would sell any of it if the price was right!

A short metro ride later and we arrived at Hotel des Invalides which, if you were a guest there would mean you were a victim of battle so, clearly not the hotel of choice for Paris. You would be in good company though with Napoleon as a room mate. It was amazing to get up close to the displays of Napoleon’s famous frock coat, hat and his favourite guns. We looked in at the Musee de l’Armee with its fascinating collection of ancient weapons and armour from around the world that was luckily salvaged during the French revolution. Tom found quite a number of suits of armour in his size…scary stuff!

From there we trekked over to the Musee d’Orsay but, only to the top level as this was enough for the kids by this stage. Level 5 houses some of the most famous pieces of impressionist art from Monet, van Gogh, Cezanne, Manet and Renoir. It was strange to see the originals of pieces that are so famously reproduced and hanging in many homes and almost every Medical centre throughout Sydney and, possibly, the world!

The kids had had enough culture by this stage so we headed towards the department stores of Galeries Lafayette and, its rival, Au Printemps. The latter wins ‘hands down’! Annabelle and I had only an hour here which was lucky for my visa. A whole day would have been better or, worse from Mark’s perspective. The variety of beautiful fashion was amazing. The prices weren’t too bad either prompting me to wish I had more time and room in my bag. Maybe there will be a next time…Tom says he is gong to bring me back here one day but, that will probably depend on Jasmine!!! We shall have to wait and see. Annabelle and I had a funny incident whilst there when we were seated beside a couple during a coffee break that just happened to be West Coast supporters from Perth. We had both been to similar games and vowed to catch up at the next Grand Final for which they have already purchased their tickets! The players are not the only cocky ones heh!! The women was related to Ben Cousins and had all the inside gossip on him. Mark should have hung with us as it turned out. The boys lucked out as they could not find an internet café for Tom to write to Jasmine, Jack and Jacob and, they couldn’t find a place to buy a tennis ball. I will never leave home again without some kind of ball, no matter how small, for Tom. This has been the only oversight of the trip so far…one week down, eight to go though.

Feeling refreshed after the sight of so much fashion we headed to the Seine for the traditional river cruise. Annabelle really enjoyed this and Tom got to see his favourite sight again, the Eiffel Tower.

We then headed home for another night ‘in’ courtesy of our local butcher but, this time it was pork! They know me well enough now and greet me like a local. Pity it was my last purchase.

Bordeaux, fromage and baguettes again! No photos from today as battery was flat.