Paris

Here we are in the City of Love, our third visit to this great city. Each time we stay in a different area and explore as much of the city as we can.

Yesterday, we spent the day with Paris Greeter Bernard who showed us around his favourite part of Paris, the Latin Quarter. Bernard had been to Brisbane last year and been out with a Brisbane Greeter, so it was nice to be able to chat about our different Greeter programs. We had quite a warm day, about 38C and a sprinkle of rain in the evening to cool it down a bit.

                          

Bernard took us to the Sorbonne which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris and thanks to a nice guard, we were able to venture inside the inner courtyard.

                                         

We wandered through the Luxembourg Gardens, the Fine Arts Institute, the Pantheon and heard all about the Paris Meridian line. We visited several churches and heard about their history. We even got to see the remains of the oldest walls in Paris built around 1200 and now used as part of a basement carpark!

                            

We spent about 6 hours with Bernard and learnt so much about Paris and saw places that we would never have found on our own. Such a great day.

                     

Today, we set out exploring on our own, discovering new areas and old places that we had ventured before. We even found the National Archives building. What treasures it must hold!            

                           

                           

And found the oldest tree in Paris, planted around 1602, commonly known as a locust tree. It is supported by two concrete crutches. The tree lost its upper branches to a shell during World War I, but it still blooms every year.

                                          

We have a 6 hour train trip to Barcelona Spain tomorrow and then the Spanish adventure starts!