Paris is a wonderful city to visit. There are lots of surprises such a buskers on the train, great food and awesome buildings. We visited the Louvre, the Chateau de Versailles, and shopped at Galerie Lafayette. Here are some pictures!

 This building at the Louvre was huge and hundreds of years old. Alan could not compare it with anything he has ever known and said he could not begin to join the dots.

 

 

Alan and I are at the top of the Eiffel Tower viewing Paris at night. It is about 340metres high.

 

The metro is so easy to use and it covers Paris like a rabbit warren. There were tunnel entry points at each end of our street and sometime you would hear music. Around the corner would be a jazz band or a cello musician. There were fruit stalls and travelators - moving footpaths so you could walk at twice the speed. We could easily go where ever we wanted, though peak hours was a squash!

 

  

Onion soup is lovely in freezing cold temperatures. On Thursday morning we woke up and saw snow on the cars parked below our apartment.

 

Dining with my sister's family, Sally next to Alan, Jeremy, Annabelle and Tony next to me.

They love living in France. I am so impressed with my the kids and how well they converse in French after only six months.

 

 Napoleon the thirds palace at the Louvre. We lost count of how many extravagant rooms with beautiful furniture, architecture and ornaments there were.

 

 

 

 

At the Louvre and the Chateau de Versailles we learnt a lot about the history of France. It was amazing to learn about the aristocracy and the revolution. In the gardens of Versailles palace it got extremely cold. Ice formed on the pond surface.

 

The next day we had fun shopping at Galleries Lafayette. It is so grand and huge compared to  Chadstone. We, meaning us girls, loved it. Alan got bored and hot. It's so well heated, all the layers for zero degrees have to come off and you are comfortable in a T-shirt.

 

 

 

 

We also went on a boat cruise on the river Seine. The lady tour leader could speak at least four different languages without pausing for a breath! She was so fast and fluent.

 

Now I am in Morocco and there is a french element - a nice bakery with croissants, some old French looking buildings with Moroccan decorations inside and street names that begin with Rue de ... or Avenue... However the comparison stops there. We are in Casablanca and the smell, the litter, the men, the traffic, the pollution. It is very different to Paris. We are in a nice enough hotel and having a rest day before out Gecko Tour begins tomorrow.