Wednesday, 1st September.

Woke up around 5, read the news on PerthNow for a while before starting on thejournal again.  It sounds like the removalists have come in downstairs, never heard so much racket so early in the morning.  Good thing I didn't want a sleep in.  Checked my emails then got started on typing up yesterday's journal.  It's so much harder typing on the netbook keyboard compared to my ergonomic keyboard at home but I'll muddle through.  It's just going to take a bit longer to get everything done and up on the web but I guess that will give you lot more time to read through each day.  If you see any typo's you'll have to forgive me as I may miss some during my proof-reading.

6.15 and time to hit the shower if I want breakfast before going out for the day.  First problem was the shower gel had leaked and I now have a very sticky, but nice smelling, toiletries bag.  The bag and all its contents had to be rinsed off.  Showered and refreshed I head downstairs for breakfast, it is light now and a clear blue sky promises another fine day in Paris.

Breakfast was a buffet with so many choices it was hard to know where to start.  The one thing I couldn't see was tea, but that was only because I suffer from duck's disease, another few inches taller and I would have seen the tea bags on the top tier of a 4 tier stand.  At least I got to practice a little French.

Breakfast finished I went back to my room to try to work out the train system, it just looked far too confusing for me, and as it was such a lovely day I figured a walk was the best way to see Paris.

I have no idea how many k's (miles) I walked but my feet, legs and back sure weren't thanking me.  From my hotel to the main street was at least a 30 minute walk.  The Louvre is so long I reckon it would be at least 1km all by itself, anyway, I started on the main strip at the beginning of the Louvre, walked across the Seine to see if there was a cruise I could take sometime in the day, walked through the Jardin de Tuilleries on to the Champs Elysees, to the Arc de Triomphe and then onto the Eiffel Tower.  By this time my feet were growing blisters, my back felt like I was carrying Atlas and his globe and my shins felt like they'd been kicked by a mule.  Once at the tower I knew there was no way I was ever going to get to the top by walking 1021 stairs to the 2nd level.  The elevator (lift) was the only way I was going to tackle this tower.  Once at the top the view was fantastic.

After leaving the tower I made way down to the Seine and boarded a Batobus for a leisurely cruise to the Louvre where a taxi was hailed to get me back to my hotel.  A relaxing bath and into bed for a good night's sleep ready for an early morning call to start my 4 day tour.