Wednesday 8th
It’s raining again so the plan to visit Versaille today has changed – will try for tomorrow.
The Louvre – we spent over 4 hours wandering around The Louvre. This is an amazing place for the building alone. We saw the Mona Lisa (of course), many paintings, sculptures, the Medieval & Egyptian sections.
It’s still raining so we can’t take any photos outside but we’ll come back for that.
Arc de Triomphe – we found our way here only to find it closed due to the strike – ughhhh!!!!!!!
We have stocked up on drinks & nibblies in the apartment for will head back for a catchup before heading out to dinner.

Tuesday 7th PARIS
OK so we were awake before our alarm, showered, packed & downstairs by 3.20am – the taxi was already there waiting for us so we were off to the Airport. The airport road was closed – lucky we weren’t driving as there was no signs of the closure – the taxi driver knew where to go. We were at the Airport sooo early we were able to get a seat on the 7am flight.
As they were about to call us to board, they heard that the flight was delayed for 1 hour. So after an even longer wait in the freezing cold airport (I was shivering by now) we boarded our flight. Everyone is onboard & now we’re told we are going to delayed another hour.
By the time we landed in Paris we didn’t know if we were 2 hours late or 2 hours early.
Charles de Gaulle Airport – everyone says how horrendous it is to navigate your way around. We didn’t find it hard at all. We got off plane & our passports were checked in the hallway by the Police (they must have been looking for someone), walked through Customs, found our luggage & easily found a phone to contact our shuttle.
The problem we encountered was finding the right spot to be collected by the shuttle – Gate 12 was closed due to road works. We had to find Gate 12 at Departures no arrivals – how weird is that. We had to wait for our driver but were eventually on our way.
Do not ever try & drive in Paris – our driver & all drivers are nuts. Our driver abused other drivers, cyclists & pedestrians. He even hit a pedestrian with the side mirror & didn’t stop.
WE HAVE ARRIVED.....I think we are all in one piece. Deep breath!!!!!
Our apartment is really nice – stone walls, exposed beams. The only drawback is that it’s on the 4th floor of a walkup apartment complex.
Rhiannon & Andy have beaten us here & are worrying why we aren’t here yet – they didn’t know of our 2 hour flight delay. They are really well & have had a great time travelling Europe for the last 2 months.
We had a few hours walking around Paris (and a stop at Notre Dame Cathedral – WOW ) then off to a pub for a few beers & cocktails.
Monday 6th

It’s raining again.........
Thank goodness for tour buses – at least you can get around in the rain.
We caught the bus to the Temple Bar area on the south side of the river (an area of pubs, restaurants & cinemas). It was still raining but we were able to walk around trying to locate the actual Temple Bar hotel. It started pouring & we felt as though we were getting lost (I think it was because it was day & no-one is around much til night) so decided to find somewhere indoors.
A soaking walk of a few blocks found us at St Stephens Shopping Centre for lunch & to dry out. We actually found somewhere where we could buy a freshly made sandwich – all sandwiches sold are pre-made – yuk!
As the rain had eased we walked the streets around St Stephens – this is a really nice area. We found the statue of Molly Malone (also known as the Tart with the cart) & I have a photo of Trevor with his hand on her backside.
We did find the Temple Bar hotel & had a drink (of course). This is actually a really nice bar & would be extremely busy at night. It’s now pouring again so we are going to try for the bus – no luck so we walk back to our hotel. By this time we are soaking wet & as we have been told by the locals that a lot more rain is expected in a couple of hours, we decide to have a relaxed afternoon, dinner & pack for our flight to Paris.
It’s after 8pm & we have literally just finished packing our gear. An sms is received saying that due to an industrial dispute in Paris our 11am flight has been cancelled. All AerLingus offices are closed til 9am so that’s no help. We have 4 options:
Try & get on the 7am flight
Try & get on the 6pm flight
Change our flight to another day
Cancel our flight & get a refund

We opted to try for the early morning flight so we checked out & ordered a taxi for 3.30am. We contacted Rhiannon & Andy to let them know we would probably beat them to Paris & to see if we could get into the apartment early with our luggage. They had not heard of any strikes so decided to check the trains – their train was also cancelled & they had to get an earlier train & they may still get to Paris before us – luckily we let them know.