We landed in Paris at about 9.15am on Tuesday 3 June. As a whole the flight was less painful than we had feared. Probably thanks to a combination of exit row seats, a couple of Valium tablets and some very generous measures of Jamiesons we both managed about 8 or 9 hours sleep between Sydney and Dubai. Access to nice showers in the Qantas Club lounge at Dubai also helped with the general feeling of relative comfort. We arrived at our hotel on the Isle St Louis just behind Notre Dame around 11am but although we had immediate access to our room we were both surprised at how well we felt and so decided to push on through. After a delicious lunch in a square outside the Palais de Justice, we spent the afternoon wandering around the Latin Quarter, taking in the Sorbonne and the Pantheon (currently under wraps) and countless other beautiful old buildings and squares. There were a few coffee stops to keep us going and we continued on to the Jardins des Plantes before finally returning to the hotel by walking along the quays of the Seine.
Our hotel was really well situated right in the heart of the old city within easy walking distance of the Marais district, Place des Vosges, the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Musee d'Orsay and of course Notre Dame as well as the Latin Quarter.
Unfortunately the weather was against us on Wednesday when we visited Versailles. It obviously didn't stop us enjoying the interiors (and we had an excellent guided tour of some of the rooms and the Opera house) but it's fair to say we wouldn't have seen the gardens at their best. Even so we walked several kilometres around the two "Trianons" and parts of the canals and other ornamental gardens. All the time we kept congratulating ourselves that we hadn't chosen to go to the tennis that day and secretly hoped that the men's quarter finals might be rain delayed and spill over to Thursday for when we had tickets. That wasn't to be and I was happy to see both Nadal and Murray get through when they finally got to play their respective matches late in the evening. It is incredibly light even at 9.30pm which still takes us by surprise.
There were perfect weather conditions on Thursday and we enjoyed a stroll along the Seine and through the Tuilleries gardens before heading out to Roland Garros. We had pretty good seats and although it was sunny it wasn't too hot and there was a gentle breeze. Just as well because there is no shade or canopy to the stadium. There was a great atmosphere and we enjoyed the match between Sharapova and Bouchard except for the result! The Halep Petkovic match held less interest and we were happy it concluded in two sets. It was a long day by the time we got back to the hotel. We were tired but couldn't have wished for a better day.
The sun shone again on our last morning. It had become our daily routine to go to a little cafe at the end of our street with lovely views of the back of Notre Dame. One of the waiters was a real showman and always served our breakfast with great flourish, sweeping his hands across the table and clicking his fingers as if he was performing a magic trick. I think they thought we were real gluttons because each morning we had the breakfast "coup de coeur" with a boiled egg, toast, jams and croissants! We just knew we would be on our feet all day and needed plenty of fuel in the tank. So after our last breakfast we just had time for one last lap around the isle before getting the train to Gare du Nord and heading off to Amiens.
The Gare du Nord was really spruced up and sparkling in the sunshine. Then I read in the paper that the Queen had arrived there the day before on the Eurostar from London. She was in France to take part in the D-Day commemorations but we had missed her at the Arc de Triomphe while we were at the tennis and on the following day she would be at the flower market in front of Notre Dame just metres from where we had been staying! Ah well, tant pis as they say here.
