My Sparkly, Twinkly Adventures....

Woke up bright and early and started the day with a breakfast of stong coffee and yummy croissants!!!Headed to Parc De Expositions to collect out passes for Premiere Vision before making our way to Notre Dame!I had forgotton how beautiful it was...I was hoping to see Quasi Modo today but he didnt reveal himself!!!Inside has some absolutley amazing stained glass windows...we then headed up to Etienne Marcell which is an area full of really cool boutiques, little cheese shops, pavement cafes.....really nice!!!We then stolled up to Sentier the area where all the fabrics and trimmings shops are as well as the design studios and showrooms!!We hung around the area where the Pompidou Centre is,lots of nice shops...stopped for a couple of Gin and Tonics!
This evening's restaurant extravaganzas werent so much of a treat...We were starving so rushed into the first place we say...dont think the staff appreciated two English chicks strolling in, they were rude and proceeded to ignore us...Made the mistake of ordering a Veggie Burger...was brought to the table...knew before even looking at it that it was actually a meat burger...luckily my habits of scrutinising food before I eat it were on top form as no way was I sampling that!!!Staff pleaded ignorant and away we went!Worst restaurant of my life...obviously thought I was going to be stupid enough to eat it!Instead we headed up to Montmarte for a bottle of red wine and some divine tirimisu in a really cute little bar!

Arrived at Luton airport after a long trek last night...Had a long evening ahead of me as I waited for check in to open but I wasnt going to battle with the nightbuses so armed with a good book, a copy of "Thats Life" (Ha Ha Ha!!!) and a mini picnic in my bag...I bombarded Costa and drank all their coffee as I waited for Emma to arrive!!!She had actually fallen asleep and had to get a last minute Taxi all the way to the delightsul Luton!After being harrassed in by the Barista in Costa and run up a hefty bill on my mobile through Boredom she eventually arrived...this situation reminded me of mine and Dawn's traumatic 18 hour wait in Stanstead many moons ago and briefly resembled the whole Osaka charade!!!!
Finally boarded the plane and 55 minutes later landed in Paris!!!Its been a few years since the last time I was in Paris and I have to admit all my previous trips to the city have been tainted with drunken exploits...so Its nice to be here again and Im ready to take in some serious sightseeing and indulging in lots of divine French Cheese and Wine!
Hopped on a train from Charles De Gaulle and ventured towards Paris...we headed to where our hotel was to be suprised that the Moulin Rouge was right at the end of the street!You can actually see the big Windmill from our hotel!!!Was a bit apprehensive about where we were staying...it was suspiciously cheap and seemed a bit too good to be true...However when we walked in we found our room to be creally cute and clean!!!What a bargain!!!Dumped the bags and headed straight out...we were soooooo hungry!!!We were very close to Montmarte so decided to wade up the hill for a spot of breakfast and to cruise around in the artists quarters...
We began with a lovely breakfast and some much needed coffee...I hadnt slept in almost 48 hours by this point!Emma was harrassed by some French Poet who was inspired to write about her and when she refused to give him money he happily still gave her the mumbo-jumbo poem he had written her!!We wandered around looking at the paintings for a while before heading further up the hill to see Sacre Coeur. Ive always loved this place, its beautiful and it has the most spectacular views across Paris!We decided to experience the Funicular on the way down...probably should have done it on the way up!!!We took a stroll through Pigalle and eventually arrived at the Opera...Its so pretty!!!We then set off on a serious walking mission and headed all the way to the Louvre!Found some great little shops on our way down the The Eiffel Tower and enjoyed several great coffees en route!We then walked to Invalides to where Napoleon is buried, saw the Arc De Triomphe and eventually made a beeline for a supermarket to stock up on some yummy bread and camembert!!!
After a brief recharge of the batteries I was still going strong despite my lack of sleep...we found a nice little pizza place so we had a bit to eat and had the pleasure of being harrassed by a 60 year old lothario who demanded we met him the following evening so he could take us to the discotheque!!!Imagine my suprise when right by the hotel I spotted O'Sullivans....the bar where involved in drunken debauchery!!!Spent the rest of the night in there drinking lots of gin and tonics (they had Bombay Sapphire!!!) and befriending a weird guy who we couldnt quite shake off!Its soooo nice to have this little break...Im totally in need of one!