Day 10 - Paris 7/06/2005
We camped for the night at the Ashford International Terminal secure car park which will cost us £2.60 if we leave within 24 hours of entering. This gives us enough time to go to Paris, get home, drive out and then re-enter to stay another night for £2.60. If we don’t drive out the price quadruples. The Eurostar train trip was not exciting; we spent alot of time underground and crossing miles of French fields with nothing to see.
Once in Paris at Gard de Nord Roger purchased, in his finest french, metro tickets to Notre Dame. We did the inside tour, but the tower tour queue was long and not moving because it hadn’t opened. The wind was too cold to stand and wait for it to open.
For a long time I have wanted to visit Paris and take in all the famous sites and on that wish list was to see the Mona Lisa. 
Being on a time budget we raced off to the Louvre to joined the masses. However when we got there Roger was convinced we were in the wrong place because nobody was there; he was expecting bus loads of tourists. Wouldn’t you know it, the one day in my life that I come to Paris and the Louvre is shut. I suppose it was no great loss as everybody tells me the Mona Lisa is disappointingly small and the rows of tourist, plus the perspex security glass over the picture, hinder your view.
Having gone 12 hours without food we strolled up the Jardin des Tuilleries for brunch, an amusing affair where drink orders are taken and food ordering is a mystery. We finally got some food, a baguette for Roger and fromage crêpe for me; when in France eat as the French do. The lunch did set us back NZ$50 and as the day went on food became the focus of our visit to Paris and the biggest cost. I spent a penny (literally) at the Jardin toilets and for my $1 I got a hygienic automated experience with a French cleaner rushing in to clean up before I had even got to the basin.
It was my turn to practice my two years of High School French and of course what better place than the patisserie on the Les Champs Elysees for something chocolate .
Next stop, to walk off the calories by climbing up the Arc de Triomphe which was quite exhausting, but the view was worth it.
The weather had improved considerably; from the cold biting wind in the morning, to being quite hot. Before we tackled the Eiffel Tower we went against Roger’s principles and purchased some water. This was quite fortunate because the queue to go up the tower via the lift was so long we chose the cheaper option to walk to the second tier and then go by lift.
Our legs were shaking from climbing and from the death ride to the top, not for the faint-hearted. The view of Paris from the top was spectacular. For the sake of our health we caught the lift all the way down, with yet another souvenir teddy.
Paris is a €7 city, the cost of all attractions. Except Roger’s beer NZ$16.
We must have walked many kilometres today ending up in a local market, near the Gare du Nord, where we bought baguettes, cheese and pâté to take back to England. It was then onto the Eurostar and a boring train-ride back to Ashford in Kent.
