Well here we are in Paris at the must see Eiffel Tower. At first it seems strange that such a tower has no actual use but then neither does sculpture or art I guess. And thats what this is. We walked under it and around it day and night and caught the lift to the top. A bit scary actually, but the views from the top are worth it.

All of Paris is laid out before you from the top of the Eiffel Tower. The Arc de Triomphe from this angle almost looks modest but it is actually 50 metres high with a twelve lane roundabout around it. Not that the cars follow the lanes. We found watching the cars to be good spectator sport.

We went to the Louvre of course and looked at Rennaissance Art and Ancient Sculptures, and the Mussee D'Orsay to look at Impressionist Art and the Pompidou Centre to look at Modern Art. We particularly liked the Pyramid at the front of the Louvre which is the main entrance.

All these galleries are fascinating but you do tend to get culture fatigue. So it was very refreshing to see this deconstructed piano on the wall of the Pompidou Centre. A good change from the hundreds of "Madonna and Child".

As expected the churches are fantastic with Notre Dame Cathedral stealing the award for the best exterior anywhere ever. Fiddly bits and flying buttresses everywhere, gargoyles on every corner. Inside is less ornate but has some very striking and unique stained glass windows depicting everyday scenes, like farming, rather than the more common biblical scenes. This stained glass design is very similar to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Min City. (We think it copied Paris).

Saint Chappell almost next door to Notre Dame is very plain on the outside, but the inside is said to be the best example of stained glass craftmanship in the world - and we believe it. The interior is almost completely stained glass with hardly any stonework structure showing. We visited in the late afternoon with the sun shining and to say it was stunning is an understatement. To top it all off we returned that evening for a Vivaldi Concert - sat in the front row and blissed out. A memorable experience.

Our base in Paris was this 16 century apartment on the Rue de Rivoli in the Marais Arrondissment - a lively district on the right bank, just a few metro stops from everywhere. The Metro was good but we tended to use the bus more as you could see what was going on. It was great after being in so many hotels to have a decent space to live and somewhere to cook for ourselves. We never thought we'd look forward to cooking but there is just so much restuarant food you can take.

The Place Des Vosges was just up the street from our apartment. One of the must see places in Paris - it is simply a park enclosed on all sides by magnificent old buildings - previous homes of the rich and famous. Its always full of families and kids looking for open space and grass you can actually sit on - a rarity in Paris. A wonderful place away from the maddening crowd.

We took the train to Versailles for the day to see how this Palace compares to its copycats elsewhere in Europe. It certainly lives up to its reputation and rates high on the OTT scale - big, with lots of gold, marble, crystal, tapestries, paintings etc. But it is the gardens which really set Versailles apart. LARGE. No unemployment for gardeners around here. We did the stylish thing and took a horse and carriage ride around the gardens. Very posh, but the bits we liked best were the intricate designs of the different gardens.

Paris is really about people, food and the cafe society. Whether its a quick coffee in a Patisserie, a more leisurely meal in a Cafe, or a takeaway, you are spoilt for choice. This was our local Boulangerie/Patisserie where we stocked up on bread and pastries each day. We think this is the essence of France.