The lounge also overlooked Singapore Airport's famous Butterfly Garden, which is an amazing indoor oasis filled with lush tropical plants, waterfall, pretty flowers and hundreds and hundreds of intricately designed butterflies. A visit to this garden was a delight to the senses, and was a place full of surprises as we discovered butterflies here, there and everywhere; once back inside the lounge, we also noticed butterfly artworks and decorations everywhere too.

(Press play in the next image to view the video)

Singapore Airport is well designed, and we were pleased to discover a rather elegant and quiet \240area of plush seating and couches, where we spent another hour or so after leaving the lounge. We were lucky enough to score one of the giant semi-circular lounges where all four of us could lay down for more relaxation and napping.

We felt refreshed and excited to board our flight for the next leg of the journey to Horley. The feeling didn’t last for long once the hours began to drag on, nevertheless, we made it in the end.

Jo and David have a beautiful back garden with vibrant green grass, trees, \240shrubs and flowers. Harry loves to sit out here with a toy in mouth, hoping you’ll join him in a game of fetch.

He also loves to present his toys to you wherever you are.

We’ve enjoyed a couple of lovely local walks through woodland...

...and fields.

As you can see, Harry absolutely loves it and is in his element.

Reading in the sun has been another happy pastime...

Perfect weather for it.

We enjoyed a great British BBQ yesterday for lunch with Jo and David, as well as David's folks, Pat and Brian.

L-R: Beth, Liam, Brian, Pat, David, Jo, Andrew

Yum.

Afterwards, we experienced another British custom: watching the football (soccer) together, cheering on England's defeat of Panama at the FIFA World Cup.

In Reigate there is the main High Street, with lots of little shops that we enjoyed looking in.

There are also many little side streets and lanes that you can slip through to get to where you're going.

Liam wanted me to take this arty shot.

For lunch, we wandered around the Reigate castle grounds and found this nice shady spot, where we enjoyed our salads and sandwiches.

From Reigate, we drove onwards to Box Hill, known here as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Being quite a hot day, even by Australian standards, we didn’t venture out to do any great walks, but we did do a couple of stops along a Natural Play Trail.

First stop: Windsor

Windsor Castle is the dominant landmark in Windsor, and on a summer's day like this, it looks amazing.

We didn’t have time to go into the castle grounds this time, but we did make it in time to see part of the Changing of the Guard just outside. 🇬🇧

Such a grand-looking castle.

We loved wandering the streets and lanes in the town centre, which has a distinctly Royal flavour with bunting, royally named pubs, and souvenir shops everywhere. During our exploration, we stumbled upon this fascinating Lego artwork of Harry and Meghan... it’s made with single flat square Lego pieces in pointillism style.

I got to cuddle the Queen and pat the corgis.

The River Thames is so serene and beautiful. Lots of boats, ducks and swans decorate the edge. Across the river is Eton.

In the middle of a hot day, this fountain was one of the best finds...

Our feet were soo hot and weary right up until we plunged them into the fountain's icy cold water.

Bliss.

Oh, and it was here in one of Windsor's traditional little sweet shops that we discovered the true meaning of the phrase, 'Like being a kid in a candy store'. How could we choose just one thing to try?

We’re staying in a little cottage in a sort of rural area where there is nothing around for miles but lush green fields and hills, trees and wildlife. It’s so peaceful and the sound of birds is a lovely backdrop.

We’re staying in the loft, and these roses grow all the way up to the window!

This photo was taken at 8.30 at night.

And a little bit later.

Our loft also had the tiniest kitchen we’ve ever used! Basically a small cupboard, but well-equipped with everything we needed.

Yesterday we spent the day at Alton Towers, which is a huge theme park built around the ruins of the sprawling building behind us. In its heyday it must have been magnificent.

Now a theme park, the expansive grounds are a massive playground of rides and roller-coasters. This first ride is their newest attraction, and is made from wood, making it loud and rickety, but super fast.

Andrew and Beth particularly loved a few of the best roller-coasters like this one. (Press play)

Later in the day, we braved a water ride... clearly, I came out second best!

Bourton-on-the-Wold was the prettiest town by far. This gorgeous stream is the main attraction which runs along the High Street. It’s busy with tourists like us and is bordered on one side with pubs, cafes and shops.

As we did in Windsor, we plunged our feet into the stream, only this time we almost jumped out of our skins when we discovered that this stream is a more apt version of 'icy cold water' than the fountain in Windsor was. Leaving our feet in the water for just a few seconds caused the bones in our feet to ache. I don’t know how two little local boys about 3 or 4 years old could stand playing in it!

So pretty.

We drove further south towards our accommodation in Wotton-under-Edge.

Another little town we wandered around was Painswick. Not as pretty as Bourton, but lots of character and quaint cottages to see.

It was comfortable and quaint.

Across the road was this beautiful old church building. Unfortunately, said church still tolls its bells every quarter of an hour. We thought this would stop at night... we were wrong. We heard the bells tolling every fifteen minutes... ALL. NIGHT. LONG. 😧

Still, this didn’t stop us from leaving early next morning to adventure up the hill to see the William Tyndale Monument.

William Tyndale is remembered for translating the Bible into English, and later being martyred for doing so.

The plaque reads: Erected AD1866 in grateful remembrance of William Tyndale, translator of the English Bible, who first caused the New Testament to be printed in the mother tongue of his countrymen. Born near this spot, he suffered martyrdom at Vilvorde in Flanders on Oct 6th 1536.

We climbed the narrow, winding staircase to the top and were rewarded with amazing views of the Cotswold villages and landscape.

To reach the monument, we walked through beautiful woods, in which we occasionally came across curious structures like these. Apparently they are dens built by other visitors in the past... den-building seems to be a 'thing' here, it seems.

This panoramic spot reminded me of the hills in The Sound of Music. Obviously, wrong country though. We walked through Marjory Wood to get here. It was hot, so finding a shady spot for our picnic was a priority.

Good sourdough, 4 cheeses, crisps, cucumber and cherry tomatoes, lemon shortbread, and elderflower softdrinks.Yum.

We stopped at the pub on the walk back to the car. The outdoor tables were full of families and friends and dogs basking in the summer sun. A cool fizzy drink was very welcome.

Welcome to the London skyline, including the 'Gherkin' and the 'Walkie-Talkie'.

We loved wandering around the Borough Markets.

Soo many amazing food stalls. Yum! We tried some sensational doughnuts and a delicious Indian chai tea, as well as some good old fudge. We even tried licorice fudge!

Busking with a difference.

We stopped for lunch in a nice park near the Houses of Parliament and Westminster.

We wandered all over London... Southbank, past the London Eye, over Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, Green Park, Horse Guards, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Bond St, and of course we had to visit the Lego shop when we happened to walk right past it near Leicester Square.

It was a long day, and a very long trip back to Horley due to many problems with the trains, forcing us to take 3 trains and one bus over a 2.5 hour period.

We have loved every minute of our stay with Jo and David here in their gorgeous home in Horley.

They live on the most beautiful tree-lined street.

Love. 💕

Actually, this couch has seen us Browns become watchers of football (Soccer), believe it or not. We’ve cheered England on in several of their World Cup matches this past week or two.

We’ve caught up with extended family too. This is Jackson, who would be Liam and Beth's second cousin once removed? (Jackson's Mum Eve is Andrew and Jo's cousin).

Playing with Harry in the garden has been fun and memorable. His favourite pastime is definitely chasing tennis balls shot from the Nerf blaster. (Press play)

He often takes a favourite toy outside and will sit like this, looking back at the house, patiently waiting for someone to come and play.

And then he might drop said toy and give you a big slobbery smile.

On our last day in the UK, we headed back into London to the West End to see Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre.

We travelled, again, by train and tube.

This is the 'Monopoly green property squares' part of town: Regent St, Oxford St, and Bond St, with lots of shops everywhere and large majestic buildings.

We also wandered through a smaller area with lanes, shops and restaurants.

And we soon reached our true destination!

The theatre is decorated with a regal air in rich reds and golds. Even though we were seated eight rows back in the balcony, we were quite close to the stage and had a great view. It was wonderful to see this stage musical that has been running for over 30 years!

We stayed in the loveliest Venetian apartment in the centre of Venice. Because we were staying in a private apartment instead of a hotel it felt like we belonged here. We were on the top floor, so had a bird's eye view of the square and alleys below where we could watch passers-by. This (above) was our view.

Breakfast time in our little kitchen.

Everywhere you look, there’s a picture to be taken.

Selfies too. 😉

So many lanes, so many shops, so many doors, so many windows, so many people. But everything is very clean and very tidy.

😂 Hamburgeria Gastronomia. It’s kinda fun trying to say this the Italian way.

We’ve eaten soo much gelati. We’ve tried flavours such as tiramisu, limone, melone, chocolate, raspberry, mango, strawberry, and yoghurt. Yummm...

Doors... Every door is unique and full of character, some more than others, such as this one.

We found the famous Rialto Bridge which spans the Grand Canal.

Looking spiffy in her new Italiano sunnies. 😎

Love this re-use of postage stamps. This is a close-up of a number of mosaics that have been made under a perspex floor in the viewing gallery foyer at a very fancy shopping centre.

And here’s the view...

We could see all over Venice from here. (Yes, I do believe this picture proves that both kiddies may now be taller than me😳).

Spectacular.

Stopping on a bridge for a bite to eat.

It’s interesting watching how boats are manouvred through the narrow canals. This boat is clearly a delivery boat making deliveries to businesses. (Press play).

Such pretty alleyways.

Venetian traffic jam? 🤔

Gorgeous (not to mention expensive) traditional gondolas. Apparently each gondola is the price of a small car to purchase!

Aah... pizza! €2 a slice. As you can see, slices are massive.

Just some of the many interesting foods we came across today... sea snails, tennis ball gumballs, packets of herbs and spices, and pebble chocolates...

(Press play) Yummm...

Looking down on our little local bakery.

Out of thousands and thousands of doors, Beth was hunting for this particular door number... and we found it!

There’s not many trees on Venice, so it’s nice to find some occasionally and sit in their shade.

Thanks, Venice... you’ve been amazing!

PS. On our last morning in Venice, Andrew had a little accident:

😬 Canal: 1 ; Andrew: 0

We were told sailing out of Venice is pretty special. They were right. Sailing from port, your ship then passes right around Venice, past St Mark's Square, and you get an amazing view of the city.

(Press play)

Sailing into port, we could immediately see spectacular scenery and the most amazing emerald water.

We took a shore excursion that took us to both the old town of Dubrovnik, and a nearby seaside town called Cavtat.

Here is a view of the old walled town of Dubrovnik. The walls stretch around the old town for 2 kilometres.

The nearby town of Cavtat is small and very picturesque. It was here that we were able to get up close and personal with the gorgeous, clear emerald water we’d been admiring since sailing into port.

On a hot summer's day, that water is soo inviting.

Once again, our feet were treated to a little swim. Cold, but refreshing.

The main street front is a little touristy, but lovely, with lots of restaurants, ice cream shops, tourist shops, gardens and markets. It lines the harbour which is filled with \240the emerald green water, little boats and large, luxury yachts.

We also wandered around some of the narrow streets which either had lovely views of the harbour, or lovely gardens and plants to decorate them.

The lanes were all neat and clean, and most of the buildings and lanes are made from local limestone.

Back in Dubrovnik, we took a short guided tour of the walled old town.

Here, the paved limestone streets have been polished to a high glossy shine by the thousands of tourists who walk them every day (see above). It was very hot and busy here, so it was lovely to find a nice spot by the harbour to sit in the shade, relax and people-watch.

This is Corfu Town - between the 'new' fort (left) and old fort (centre) is the old town, full of gorgeous old buildings and little winding lanes and streets.

This was our unplanned day to explore and hopefully find a nearby beach for a swim. After some research, we found we could take a local bus into Corfu Town and find one of several local swimming spots. This little pebble beach was perfect - quiet, non-touristy and almost rather private.

As you can see, the water was crystal-clear. BUT, freezing cold!

We all swam, and then enjoyed sitting or playing in the warm sunshine.

Playing with and sorting the pebbles makes for a different kind of beach fun than back home.

We spent quite a bit of time searching for the best pebble to sneak home with us.

Soo nice. When ferries and boats sailed by, we were treated to a series of large waves that you could almost surf to! 😉

Yep, did I mention the water was crystal clear?!

We loved this little excursion to our Corfu beach.

Afterwards, we also enjoyed a short wander around the old Corfu town, enjoyed a Greek ginger beer (very good), before taking the bus back to ship. We sailed from port mid-afternoon. Perfect.

Santorini is nothing short of amazing. As we sailed into the archipelago, the vast size of Santorini made our large cruise ship feel like a small toy boat in comparison. Looking up the sheer rocky face of the island to the main town of Thira above, it looked like the cable cars were travelling up and down almost vertically.

Instead of standing in the cable car queue for an hour or going up the winding footpath on foot or donkey, we took a ferry excursion to the nearby town of Oia (pronounced ee-a).

It was an enjoyable ferry journey of around 20 minutes, and we enjoyed the views of the island as we went.

On arrival at the pretty harbour of Oia, which is far below the town itself, trouble began when we realised there was only one dock for the many boats and ferries that wished to drop off and pick up passengers. We bobbed around in this lovely harbour with the beautiful clear water for at least 30-40 minutes, waiting to disembark from the boat and continue our journey.

This is Oia.

It looked so lovely from the ferry; it was so hot waiting in the boat, and we couldn’t wait to get up there and find a cold drink.

Eventually we were able to get off the boat, but instead of being collected at the dock by a bus which was to take us up the steep hill, we had to walk most of the way up ourselves in the scorching heat. We felt like we were melting when we finally boarded the bus, which drove us a mere 5 minutes to the nearby bus stop from where we could begin our exploration of Oia.

After cooling down with lemonades and an iced coffee, we wandered around this beautiful town.

Everywhere there are views, and therefore pictures to take. The architecture is so simple and harmonious, with the occasional pop of colour that makes it a pleasure to wander around the cobblestone pedestrian streets.

Unexpectedly, we stumbled across the most amazing bookstore that I had previously been told about by friends. I really thought there was no way we’d ever find it, but we came around a corner, and there it was. The 'Rent-a-cat’ sign seems to be the first thing you notice, before realising the 'cave' below is a bookshop. Of course, we had to go inside!

Once inside, we were all charmed by this warm, cosy little shop, with interesting pictures, literary quotes painted onto walls and window frames, all sorts of shelves and walls completely covered with books old and new.

This wall of first editions was quite fascinating, especially the pricetags! 😲

Upstairs, the bookshops provides visitors with one of the most spectacular views in Santorini.

After leaving Oia, we boarded the bus that drove us back to Thira, where we’d be able to either take the cable car down to port, or walk down the donkey footpath. Taking the bus meant we saw the other side of Santorini, with small farm areas and houses in more sparsely populated areas.

Before descending, we had to try some Greek food, so we ordered a plate of calamari. As you can see, it’s prepared rather differently than it is back home, and the kids were a little disturbed by it 😧. Despite being a little overcooked, it was still tasty and much-needed fuel for our descent.

Once again, the cable cars had a long wait, so feeling intrepid and up for a challenge, we opted to walk down the long and winding footpath. It’s made up of 588 cobbled steps, some of which are slippery, and it’s also shared with the infamous donkeys (and their droppings) that transport tourists up and down all day.

This picture was taken not far from the top. You can see how far down the path winds. I’m pleased to say we all made it successfully, in one piece, albeit extremely hot, sweat-soaked and exhausted! It was the greatest feeling to reach the bottom, greeted by a couple of our ship's crew who presented us with iced towels and water.

After tendering back to the ship, it was about 8pm. Without a doubt, it was a glorious feeling to crawl into bed later that night.

Our plans for Mykonos were changed abruptly on waking when we discovered Liam had woken up with extreme dizziness and nausea. Instead of taking our planned kayaking excursion, we were forced to stay on board ship, see the ship doctor, and look after our boy who needed to rest and sleep. It turns out due to a slight head cold, his ear drums were a little inflamed and there was likely some fluid in his inner ears that had caused an imbalance and thus the dizziness.

While Liam rested, we took turns tendering into Mykonos town to explore on our own. I absolutely loved exploring this lovely place. The little lanes and streets, buildings and colours, are just enchanting.

I found a little beach and walked along it with my feet in the water. The water here was much warmer than it was in Corfu. I would have loved to swim in it, but sadly hadn’t brought my swimmers.

The town was bustling with tourists, but it was still lovely and full of unexpected surprises.

I managed to find the Library!

Inside, I sat and looked at some books (mostly Greek, of course), and then I chatted with the Librarian.

She is the sole librarian here since 2005, in the one library that serves Mykonos and the other Cycleades Islands. We chatted for a while about libraries, and she told me a little about the history of the the Mykonos Library.

I thoroughly enjoyed my little Mykonos excursion. And by the evening, Liam was feeling a little better.

First sunset.

Favourite spot on deck.

Lunch with a view, Dubrovnik.

Corfu, Greece.

Evening chic night... isn’t she lovely?

Liam scrubs up well, too, especially with lots of hair product. 😉

Sailing into Santorini.

I bought this travel washing line 20 years ago and it’s still going strong.

The tender experience, Mykonos.

In Naples we met Giovanni, who took us on a wonderful private tour of the Amalfi Coast.

Giovanni was a wonderful driver and guide, telling us many things about Italy and the coast - history, geography, customs and culture - and also a little about himself and his own life in Italy.

He showed us many amazing views that were simply breathtaking.

Positano, the vertical town, was our first major stop, where we had a chance to wander down the hill through the lanes past shops, restaurants and along the beach. The beach is crowded with sun beds and beach umbrellas, which are rented to you if you wish to use them. There are no free beaches here, and no free space! It was here in Positano that we experienced the best gelato of our trip so far - the creamiest lemon gelato in all of Italy! Yum!

After Positano, we visited Sorrento, famous for its citrus products, especially limoncello. We enjoyed fresh, wood-oven pizzas for lunch, then wandered the pedestrian streets for a look at the shops.

At the literal edge of Sorrento, we found the most stunning view of the 'beach' below the cliffs we were standing on. Feeling as hot as we were in the middle of the day, we wished we had our togs and time to go down for a swim - we watched the swimmers jealously from our position, admiring the way these swimming 'pools' had been created.

Following Sorrento, we visited Pompeii, the famous archaeological city that was completely destroyed during an earthquake and the eruption of nearby Mt Vesuvius in 79AD. We were grateful to have our own tourguide, Michel, who was able to show us the highlights of Pompeii and tell us about its history at the same time.

Despite the heat, we all enjoyed experiencing this ancient place. We hadn’t realised how big the town had been before its destruction, and to see how much has been preserved and to learn about some of the customs of the time was fascinating.

Our chalet is marked by the yellow arrow above.

On our arrival, Liam and Beth were happy to discover a games cupboard, which they made use of straight away.

Our chalet has a gorgeous view of part of Morzine, which looks quite pretty in the evening with all the lights coming on.

The morning is just as lovely.

There are nearby patisseries and boulangeries (bakeries) everywhere, so it is a daily chore to visit one and select a few pastries to try. 😉

We have also got special passes that allow us to ride up and down the cable cars and chairlifts to the surrounding hills and mountains as much as we like.

These cable cars take you up hundreds of metres and provide spectacular views of the valleys below, as well as the surrounding mountains.

We’ve also walked around the local stream in Morzine, which took us through pretty forests.

The chairlift is a little scarier than the cable cars - at least, it is for me. I feel much safer enclosed in a little pod than I do on a bench seat with a metal bar across my lap. Of course, Beth thinks they’re fabulous!

Once again, views. A-MAZING!

The first walk was meant to be 'almost flat', according to the brochure. We later realised we had taken the more scenic and hillier track along the stream.

It was quite picturesque.

Nice.

Before the first chairlift, we stopped to eat the pastries we had dutifully purchased before the journey.

Then, we boarded the chairlift.

At this point, we began to wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into. The sign at the chairlift warned of storms, and it was already a bit chilly and we could see lots of clouds in the direction we were heading. The sign warned that should a storm occur the chairlift would be closed, basically meaning we’d be stuck a long way from home.

Undeterred, we pushed on.

As we rose over the lip of the initial hill, we caught our first glimpse of the chairlift line ahead of us. Was it really going to go ALL the way up there? (As marked in photo). We could hardly believe our eyes as we saw that, indeed, the chairlift was going to go all that way. It looked very far and very, very high. And the further we travelled, the colder it became.

The views were spectacular.

Arriving at the summit of Mosettes, we realised we Aussies are a bit clueless when it comes to coming prepared for alpine temperatures. Dressed only in shorts, Tshirts, and with thin jumpers, we were freezing. A stop in the cafe for hot drinks was essential.

Beth warmed up under a blanket.

When we warmed up, we went to the high point to check out the view properly. Amazing. Our Morzine mountains were babies compared with the big daddy mountains we could now see in the distance.

It was at this point, with the cold temperatures, threatening clouds, and time marching on, we chose to abandon our plans to journey onwards on the cable cars, so we turned back and took the long chairlift back to France.

This time, I attempted a time-lapse video of the journey (press play above). It’s not quite the right angle, but gives an idea of the experience. (I was gripping the phone as tightly as possible so I wouldn’t drop it!) The two people in the cable car ahead are Andrew and Beth.

After we descended and walked back to the car, we drove the short distance to Lake Mondriand where we ate our baguettes for lunch. It was so pretty. Some people were swimming, canoeing, and paddle-boarding.

From Mondriand, we then visited the nearby town of Les Gets. This was a nice little town where we made use of their electric bike rental service.

These bikes were so much fun! The electric boost enables you to ride up hills with ease, and/or cycle fairly fast. When the electric boost kicks in, it’s a little like a real-life Mario Cart mushroom 🍄 that gives you a speed boost and you suddenly take off really quickly. We rode \240around town a little, then out to the Les Gets lake and back, before heading home to Morzine.

Wanting to visit Switzerland, we drove to Lake Geneva, beginning our day in Evian, where the spring water comes from (or at least is bottled). We enjoyed pastries and drinks before following the road anti-clockwise around the lake's edge, eventually arriving in Montreux. Here, we found baguettes and a shady spot by the lake for lunch.

Following this, we continued our drive down into the alps so that we could be amazed by the 'big daddy' mountains, such as Mont Blanc, which is the highest peak in Europe. As we drove closer to this region, we began to see some of these huge mountains, still covered with snow from the winter.

Seeing these peaks in summer is quite different to seeing them in winter, when they’re normally blanketed in snow. Seeing them 'naked' allows you to see the real shapes and crags of all the rock formations.

Here is Beth with Mont Blanc in the background.

We stopped in Chamonix, the small town below Mont Blanc, which is very touristy!but enjoyable.

We took our final chairlift ride halfway up the side of the mountain in order to take the luge the rest of the way back down again. We have become quite practised at chairlifts, although the exit will probably always make me a little anxious... you have to raise the lap bar, then, while the chairlift is still moving forwards, get off and run as quickly as possible to the side and away from it, hoping you’ll get out of its way in time!

And this is the luge! Much like the luge in the Winter Olympics, only without snow, and a lot safer and heaps of fun!

The track wends it’s way down the slope, zig-zagging back and forth with turns, straights and a couple of little drops. The carts have a stick that enables you to coast, accelerate or slow down with. It was soo much fun!

Luging in cool teen style. 😎

Umm, I did say it was safer, not completely safe. Someone might have been going too fast around a bend and lost his balance, leaving quite a graze on his arm and losing a fair few layers of skin on one knee. 😬

We quite enjoyed our time in Morzine. Perhaps one day we’ll have the opportunity to return here, possibly even in another season.

First stop: the Paris Opera House. A huge old building with amazing architecture. There was great atmosphere on the front steps with a fantastic busker entertaining the crowds.

Shopping. We loved discovering these little arcades hidden off larger shopping streets. They’re full of light and interesting little shops full of treasures and elegance.

One not-to-miss destination was the Galleries-Lafayette, which is a very fancy department store full of big brands and with a free rooftop terrace offering amazing views over Paris. On arrival we discovered it was SALE season!! Sadly we didn’t have time to really make the most of that, but we did admire the amazing central glass dome as we made our way to the roof. Unfortunately, however, we soon found the rooftop was inaccessible for some reason, so we had to miss the view this time.

Paris Opera House.

Near the River Seine are The Tuileries Gardens, and there happened to be a fun fair on! We had a short walk-through and noted that it pretty much was the same as the Ekka - same sorts of rides, similar prices, same carnival games, but still fun to wander around nonetheless.

As we walked along the river,we came across the famous bridge that’s covered with love locks. Welcome to Liam's lock shop!

As well as walking a LOT, we also used the metro for longer trips.

Waiting for the train.

Resting the sore feet while Dad buys the tickets.

Liam took charge of the map and worked out most of our train journeys. He did a great job.

Not all trips were as empty as this one.

We paid a visit to the Arc-de-Triomphe.

It’s pretty impressive.

From there we wandered down the Champs-Elysées.

Visiting the boulangeries has been a daily task during the whole of our time in France. We’ve tried all sorts of pastries. At this lovely-looking one we found in Paris, we splurged on the artisan double chocolate eclair with gold leaf for €4.50 (about $8). We each got to eat one quarter each. It was delicious!

Next we visited the Notre-Dame...

...Where we took the usual selfie in front of this amazing building.

After this, it was time to head across town to our scheduled date with the Eiffel Tower.

We queued for quite a while, and eventually made it to the second level (we didn’t go all the way up) where we admired the views of Paris.

After being out and about Paris for hours, it was almost dinner time and we were exhausted. A short rest-stop beneath some shady trees was just what we needed.

I was quite taken with these steps leading up to our apartment. I don’t know that the pictures really do them justice. You can tell these stairs are extremely old, with much character, and it would be amazing to hear the stories they could tell. They don’t sit straight, and the treads are worn down in places... quite beautiful.

All-in-all, we enjoyed our time in Paris. It maybe isn’t the pristine city it used to be, as the streets are quite dirty and grotty, you can’t walk 10 metres without inhaling cigarette smoke, and there are many beggars and homeless people, but the timeless elements and beautiful architecture will always make it a little bit lovely.