ok, this definitely has to be the last post of this! i will return to normal designy posts soon - i have lots to share! i hope you have enjoyed reading about my travels though - i am hoping that writing it all down will mean i remember it all!

so where i left it last time, i had just had a huge day at versailles. the next day, i went to montmartre.

i was originally going to go to the marche aux puces st-ouen de clignancourt but the whole not-being-able-to-speak-french thing threw that idea off because i figured i would not be able to buy anything or would get ripped off. so i skipped that part - i'll go next time, once i've learned french *wink*

instead, i started my day off at sacre coeur. oh how i love that place - it's so cool and weird-looking. the only one thing that was a bit of a negative are the people hanging around the gardens below the cathedral trying to tie string around your wrist (they then try to make you pay for it). thankfully, i had been warned, and politely told them that i neither spoke french nor english! i figured this would throw them off! despite this, it is still one of my favourite places in paris.



i climbed up another 300 steps to get to the top of the cathedral. it was so worth it - though it was rather treacherous getting up there, and definitely not for anyone especially large (either tall or wide), because it's quite tight. but the view was worth it.







after going inside the cathedral and also down to the lower levels, i then went to explore montmartre. i had an amazing tarte tartin from one of the boulangeries in the town, walked through the art markets (i was hoping to buy something, but nothing jumped out at me), and wandered through other pokey little shops up there. after going and buying some lovely perfume in fragonard, i headed back to the metro... next stop, cite


i got off the metro and headed over to the notre dame. it was lunch-time, so i bought a lovely baguette on the way, and sat in the square to eat it. then i joined the queue of people waiting to get into the church. this is what greeted me when i got inside...







i walked back outside and wandered around the back, heading towards st-louis-en-l'ile. there, i stopped at berthillion to get some rhubarb gelato. yum yum! i walked across the pont de sully, and walked along the quais, where i had this amazing view



i kept walking along the quai to rue saint jacques, where i visited st severin, la sorbonne and the pantheon







inside the pantheon, not only was it nice and cool (was getting a bit warm outside!), but it was just beautiful... the paintings, the stone carvings...



in the middle of the main floor of the pantheon is a foucault's pendulum. this is a simple device that demonstrates the rotation of the earth.





i also visited the crypt, where the remains of voltaire, rousseau, marat and victor hugo are housed.

the next stop was the palais du luxembourg and the gardens, which was one of my favourite places the last time i visited paris. by this time, the ominous black clouds had cleared and it turned into a nice, sunny afternoon. the french do lead a good life - there were so many people lying about in the sun in the beautiful jardins, seemingly without a care in the world!





i got a bit lost when i was walking through the gardens, and ended up at place st sulpice. i walked on to find laduree, where i went in and bought the laduree book (with all their yummy recipes), a few macarons and a few other little bits and pieces. i headed up the rue bonaparte and across the the louvre because i couldn't quite figure out where else to catch the metro from. i caught the train back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for dinner.

i didn't really have anything planned, but i decided to go to the marais district and walked up the rue beaubourg, but couldn't really find anything. i stopped at the hotel de ville to take a quick snap



a bit lost, i got back on the tube and got on the wrong damn train, which i realised after one stop, and jumped off at st paul. after popping my head out at the surface, i decided to try look for somewhere to eat around there. i ended up on rue du roi de sicile, where i found a cute little cafe called boboli, and had a very enjoyable dinner (and some very tasty mariage freres earl grey tea).

the next day was my day to climb the eiffel tower. i jumped on the metro and caught it to trocadero. while there, i visited the cimitiere de passy, and the grave of the great painter manet. it was a little sad there - there were so many broken, old and decrepit tombs and mausoleums. no one seemed to care too much. on the way back, i was dying to use the loo and attempted to use the free-standing public loo. not being able to read french, i hit the wrong button, and it seemed to think i wanted to go out and i can only assume that it was starting cleaning procedures (can't be too sure, it was talking to me in very loud french). so i headed out before it started spraying me with water and disinfectant. major fail on my part!

so instead, i went back to the trocadero, where i realised that i was not dressed appropriately for the day - it seemed so nice and warm, and i had been burnt the previous day, but today the wind was cutting right through me, and i was freezing! it was nice at the trocadero in the sheltered spots, because it looked straight out over the eiffel tower and the champ du mars



i walked down the stairs, encountering more of those men trying to flog string bracelet things, and headed towards the tower. i had bought a ticket already, and my trip up the eiffel tower was not until 10:30. so i had to hang around for a while. because it was so cold, i picked a park bench in the sun and huddled into my coat to look around and read an ebook. this seemed like the best thing to do because the champ du mars was covered with men trying to sell their crappy souvenirs, and young women trying to get me to sign a petition (for what, i don't know. but these girls were everywhere).

a bit before 10:30, i wandered through the tourists and straight to the gates to head up the eiffel tower. the trip up to the first level was not too bad. i must have gone a bit white though, because people kept asking me if i was ok - i do not like heights. the trip up to the second level was terrifying though. i did a stupid thing and looked down and felt really woozy. but i managed to wrench my eyes up and it was a bit better then.

if i thought it was cold and windy on the champ du mars, it was icy up the top of the tower. but the view was just spectacular, it was so worth being freezing and petrified. the champ du mars:



the trocadero:


the grand palais:


me, slightly petrified and twitchy:


on that photo above, i had to back up to the railing - it was pushing it a bit much to walk straight towards it, since i did not want to look down! after i'd had enough, i headed back down to safer ground. i set walking out over the champ du mars, turning to look up at the eiffel tower again:



i walked along past the ecole militaire and decided that i couldn't take being cold any more. so i caught the metro back to the hotel to change into more suitable clothing, then caught it back to the ecole! hooray for the metro visite pass - it rules! i walked from the metro down to the invalides. i had never been there before but had seen the gold dome from many angles (sacre coeur, arc, eiffel tower, and the streets of paris itself!). it really was as pretty up close as it looked from far away



the gardens were also very nice, with lots of people picnicking there



this photo does not do it justice, because it's a huge place, but this is the facade of the invalides:



i then went wandering down towards the boulevard raspail and towards st germain. i caught the metro and headed over to pere lachaise. i had previously tried to go there, but the people in charge of the great cemetery were closing the doors and kicking people out so i hadn't been able to go in and stickybeak. but this time, i got there early and went to visit the grave of jim morrison, ingres, and some others

jim morrison:



this tree was near jim's grave and covered in writing



like de passy, this cemetery was also a bit dishevelled. i think its a bit of a shame. i mean, yes it's a huge place and there are thousands of graves, but some stones were piled on top of others, with others being in a state of disrepair, and others looking like they had been set alight. it was sad. the whole place was just a bit too depressing - i mean, i know its a cemetery and not meant to be a party, but i thought it would be more interesting. instead, i was just glad to get out of there (and no, not because it gave me the willies... it didn't!!). when i did try to go home though, i realised my lovely metro pass must have fallen out in the cemetery, since i no longer had it (thankfully, it expired the next day so it was not a great loss). but i also did not have my french book so i was basically stuffed. i got to the metro station and tried to communicate with the gruff lady who was working there. i couldn't use the automated ticket machines because i couldn't read french, and she was so rude because i couldn't speak french. i apologised profusely, but she made it seem like such a hassle to help me. i know people do say this about french people but this was the only person i encountered where i had this kind of problem...

that night, i went for dinner at a place on avenue des gobelins. it was rather nice, and i treated myself to half a bottle of nice french wine!

the next day was my last day in paris. being without a metro ticket, and not being able to ask for one, i decided to stay near to my hotel. they allowed me to leave all my baggage there thankfully, and i walked to the place de italie, where there was a printemps! i did a bit of shopping, albeit with a lot of hand gesturing and apologising. then i walked back outside the shopping centre and went to the boulangerie and bought a raspberry tart. i walked down to the jardin des plantes again to eat it and sit in the sun and just enjoy my last few hours in france. it was sad to leave - i really do love that place.



i sadly headed back to the hotel to grab my baggage and head to the metro. unfortunately, i do not pack light, and my bags were very heavy, and once again there are very few lifts in metro stations. i had to catch the metro to gare d'austerlitz, then change for the RER train out to the airport. that was fun.... not... there were about 1000 steps through that damn station, no one helped me with my bags, and there were no lifts. like really, how hard is it?! i was carrying 30kgs! when someone did help me, i almost cried with gratitude.

i got to the airport very early and sat down and read my book until it was time to go. then it was back on the plane, back to abu dhabi (no problems this time) and back to cold sydney.

in abu dhabi



in the sky, with the beautiful sunrise... or sunset. i wasn't too sure at that stage, though i do think it was sunrise.



the end.

thankyou to everyone who came out to see me - chris, samantha and ethan, nicola, sarah and pat, claire and michael, anthea, mavis, bec. thankyou also to my rescuers katja and graeme - i owe you guys heaps. i had an amazing time, and i will be back soon.

and paris, i love you. i will definitely be back. don't miss me too much.