I keep pinching myself to make sure Im not dreaming but yes I really am here again after 26 years!I have walked so much that I think I ll go back to New Zealand about 3cm shorter!
So far some highlights have been the car showrooms along the Champs Elysees which are set out like museums and you can wander around free (Kev would love them); the night boat tour along the Seine and seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkling on the hour (and it s very impressive just lit up at night anyway); Notre Dame and the latin quarter city free tour; talking with Isabelles lovely Parisian friends who came for aperitifs one night; going to one of Isabelle s friends place for apperitifs at her home in Montmartre before having a lovely typical french restaurant meal and then being shown her neighbourhood in Montmartre by night (with heaps of local knowledge); seeing the Friday night roller blading in Paris ( if only I was 30 years younger); going to Versailles for a picnic lunch in the gardens with Isabelle and Nadine; and generally exploring Paris by foot and metro. Its still really exciting to turn a corner and see the Eiffel Tower in the background or one of the many other attractions in this buzzing city.
So I ve had my first week here in the South of Paris with Isabelle and this week I m staying in the west with Nadine.
Of course the food is wonderful and the cheese is to die for! So many varieties but so little time. Tante pis. The french wine of course and baguettes are all part of this vibrant scene too.
This weekend we are going to Lille on the TGV fast train and we come home on Sunday night. The Paris marathon is on Sunday so Paris will be extra busy. I m sure the atmosphere will be charged and festive just like the Barcelona marathon.
On Monday I will take the TGV again and head to the South of France to stay with Claire s french family who looked after her so well in 2004. I m really looking forward to meeting them and having a week in Antibes before catching up with Emma who stayed with us in 2005 and lives in Grenoble.
The time is racing by at an incredibly fast pace.
