Flying to France

The day started with a warm sun streaming in the through the ageless shutters and a perfect Adriatic Sea breeze to keep the heat a bay. The sounds early morning Venice drifting up from the narrow streets was a poignant reminder that we were about to leave this magical place and head off to our next destination. Another long trek back through the heart of the town, dragging the bags behind (up and down the countless steps again) and to the bus depot. A short trip the airport, more long waits (they call it Easy Jet – it should be called Not so Easy Jet) and a 2 hour flight saw us land in Paris.
It was somewhat disconcerting to have the entire plane collect their bags and leave and we’re standing there by ourselves with one bag short. Just before panic set in – our one lonely bag appeared by itself and with a sigh of relief we headed off to the train station. After a semi-nervous trip on the old crowded trains, we appeared out of the subways onto the Melbourne end of Boulevard St. Michel (well it looks like Collins St....). The second thing we noticed is that it’s much cooler here
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A joyous meeting with Gabby ensued and as she had cased the joint for us, we headed straight to the Hotel to break the first (what we expect will be many) of their rules. i.e. we had food and drinks in the room.
We then headed out for a stroll around town, leaving our centrally located home in the Latin Quarter and onto the Ile de la Cite, we stopped to admire the Notre Dame and then headed up to the Centre Georges Pompidou. This is a fascinating building where all the plumbing is on the outside. Luckily they did not expose the whole internal workings by making the pipes transparent. Very nice views across the skyline to the tower and other landmarks was enjoyed by all.. Afterwards we went for drinks in Place E Michelet before kebabs in front of the pipeworks again. Drifting back to our room we poked our noses inside the Notre Dame and then watched the sunset over La Seine