Day Four - Paris

I have to say, if you ever want to stay in London, check out Arran's Hotel on Gower St/Rd. It's fantastic. The rooms are small & neat, the bathroom is tiny, but it's warm & cosy. The beds are comfy as anything and the doonas are duck/goose down!! *bliss* AND it's a B&B so you can have a 3 or four course breakfast every day!! /sale.

We packed up our room & got everything organised to walk to the train station down the road, so we could catch a train to the international station. My ankle was worse this morning to the point where I was limping & walking rather slowly. Of course, it was so warm in the hotel I hadn't put my gloves on and it was the one day where the rain decided to belt down & the wind was icy. It was the longest, most horrible walk of the trip so far.

Once we'd gotten to the train station it was fairly smooth sailing. We sat at the international train station and sipped short macchiatos and hot chocolates. We've made it a little bit of a goal to try the hot chocolates when we can and are in the mood. They're SO different every store we go to.

A two hour train ride later & a short walk to our hostel (yep, there's an 's' in there!) & we're settled(ish) in Paris. My ankle has loosened up with a bit of walking and stretching so we decided to just go for a stroll around the area. It didn't take long for us to see the roof of the Sacre Couer. It's just lovely there. FULL of tourists, but lovely all the same. A little tour of the church and the surrounding markets was had... a few eyes of cute Frenchmen were caught too *winks*.

Strolling on we realised we weren't far from the Moulin Rouge and the Red Light district. Photos were taken and shall be posted later. Still have to upgrade my Flickr account. Later. I had a little Marilyn Monroe moment in my skirt (full length). I stood over the vents (they're big) and the wind was a little stronger than I realised. Thank goodness I had tights on. That caused a few smiles from strangers & an uninhibited burst of laughter from me. Not *quite* as glamourous as I'd hoped.

Mum didn't realise it was a real red light district so the ensuing walk to find food was rather... uh... interesting! We stopped for some crepes for dinner and then detoured to a supermarket (two storey, the first being underground) on the way home.

We sat on the floor eating chips 'n' dip and drinking wine. It was an anti-glamour experience but kinda fantastic with all the family. And now, as I type in the foyer, my family is at a near by table talking about who knows what!!

I should go join them. I'm sure I'm going to run out of time soon.

I'll write soon <3 to your mother.