Well we've been back a week but with all the goings on this past week I've just not had time to sit down and even think about writing about our trip to Paris! However the longer I leave it the less likely I'll write it so here we are…

We took the Eurostar to Paris from Waterloo. After reading the tickets wrong and sitting in the seats we had for the return journey, and so having to move (very embarrassing!), we finally settled in for the 2.5 hour journey to Paris. On arriving to Paris we caught the Metro down to the stop by our Hotel. A point to make – We bought 3 day metro tickets at Waterloo, at £4.50 per day. These Metro tickets were unlimited use for central Paris and totally worth the price. Imagine being able to travel the London underground (say zones 1 and 2) as much as you needed all day for 3 days. Whilst I realise you can't see all of the scenery in the Metro it works out much cheaper than taxis and much less waiting time.

We stayed in Hotel Kyriad Montparnasse (you can find it on Expedia) at a rate of £25 per night each. From what I'd read on the hotel's reviews it was anywhere from 100m to 1km from the metro. As it happens it was less than 50m from the entrance! The hotel was set in the middle of lots of little one way streets with a small selection of shops in the immediate area. The room itself was not massive but it was fine for the two of us, plus a slightly wider than normal bed was quite nice!

After dropping our stuff off we decided to walk to the Eiffel Tower. It was a mild and cloudy afternoon but not raining, plus we'd been sitting still all morning. So we walked all the way to the Eiffel Tower which was quite cool as we got to wander various Parisien streets and see a few flashy buildings along the way. After getting to the Eiffel Tower, taking a few pics and having a bit of a wander, we found a nice restaurant around the corner to have some dinner in. Trouble was mid way through the dinner it started raining – the heaviest rain I've seen for a long time! It didn't look so bad when we left the restaurant until we got outside! We ran across to a Tabac across the road and grabbed a couple of umbrellas which didn't really hold up well, plus mine broke within 5 minutes. We tried walking back to the Eiffel Tower to catch the lights being on but within seconds we were absolutely drenched. The only part of me dry was my hair! We tried to then catch a taxi and eventually walked to the nearest Metro once the rain had died off a little and finally got back to the hotel, soaked through. Not a great start!

Saturday the sun came out. Luckily my trousers (my only pair) had dried but my trainers were soaked through so I had to buy some new shoes as my boots weren't made for walking all day long. We went up to the Champs Elysee and I managed to get a new pair of shoes halfway up (costing a cool £50 ). A few photos of the Arc de Triomphe and then we caught the Metro down to the Louvre, however already blisters were starting on my heels from the new shoes Gritting my teeth we carried, walked to the Notre Dame, stopping for a brief lunch on the way. Then another disaster struck where Dave didn't realise the path way turned to steps and went over on his ankle. Little did he know he'd actually broken part of his ankle bone. After both of us then limping the around the Notre Dame and back over the bridge we found a Pharmacy to get a split for Dave's ankle (they have much better supports in Europe compared to the UK!). We wandered a bit further, saw the Pompidou centre (very bizarre) and then caught a metro back to the hotel for a bit of R'n'R as we were both suffering. That evening we tried a restaurant just opposite the hotel. Unfortunately the restaurants in the area didn't really offer much choice besides steak, pasta or pizza. However the meal was still nice enough. With a nice warm evening we decided to make use of our metro tickets and went back up to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. This time there was no rain and we got some good photos of the pretty lights.

On Sunday first stop was the Bastille. After deciding there wasn't much there (there probably was but we couldn't find it) we took a wander through the side streets and happened to stumble upon a very large market of fresh fruit stalls, fresh meat and fish, bakery stalls and much more. It was a fascinating experience and the size of a market I've love to live near and go to every Sunday morning. We then took the Metro up to Moulin Rouge and walked back up to the Sacre Couer, taking in the sights of the sex shops next to the sushi bars! A long walk all around the Latin Quarter and along the river back down to… the Eiffel Tower (we kept ending up there somehow!). Considering the state of Dave's ankle we still covered a lot of ground which you just seem to do without thinking when there.

Monday was just spent eating a hearty breakfast and then travelling back to the train station to catch the Eurostar home. Despite all of the issues and problems we went through we still had a good weekend away especially for the price we paid. We took plenty of photos (of which I'll get some uploaded soon) and had a weekend of winding down and lots of walking! I'd thoroughly recommend the hotel and the area which we stayed in.