Paris 2

It's probably not news to anyone that Paris is a great city. We have enjoyed our time here. We went on a hop on-hop off bus tour on Monday, a great way to get our bearings. There is so much to see, the few days we had were not near enough. We really did not have time to go into any museums or buildings except the Louvre and Notre Dame. Since we are not staying down by all the action, we have had to spend some time figuring out how to get around on the bus, etc. I guess this is where seeing Paris on a tour would save you lots of time. But then you would not see now people live and what the neighbourhoods are like.

It would be so wonderful to live here. There is a shopping street not far from our place that has a butcher shop, fish market, bakeries, fruit and vegetable stalls, cheese shop, etc. so every day you could go out and buy the freshest food for your meals.

We heard that French people are rude but have not found that to be true. They are reserved, like people in Reyjkavik, and probably the way people at home would be if we were inundated by tourists all the time. People in stores (there do not seem to be a lot of tourists in our neighbourhood) are helpful and put up with our fumbling French quite graciously. A couple of old ladies have talked to me on the bus.

We feel quite proud of figuring out the buses we need. We wanted to use the Metro but buses are more convenient where we are. Reading a map is a different story. There are so many little streets that change names in the middle and just seem to peter off that we have been lost many times. It has taken two of us to find our way a lot of the time. Geoff goes by the map and I go by landmarks so between us we eventually get to where we need to be.

I am surprised by how many Fench tourists there are. And kids all over the place. Makes me miss the boys, we have been very happy when Jude Facetimes us with them. They give us kisses on the iPad. Kane seemed quite interested last night when I gave them a tour of the apartment.

Top photo is Geoff's thumb and me in the Montmartre cemetery not far from here. Bottom is our elevator, it has an iron cage door and just fits two people and luggage.

To Rome tomorrow.