Paris - Down and Out

Sunday 4 January

We leap out of bed at the crack of dawn (OK, so that means 9am here) and gather for another attack on Paris. This time Simon is leading us on another walking tour through what used to be 'down and out' Paris. We cross over the Ile de la Cite and strangely there is no queue at Notre Dame so in we go. Again, we seem to have struck gold with our random church visit - being Sunday morning there is a mass on, but this is the Gregorian Mass and we are treated to some superb Gregorian Chants and music in this iconic cathedral - a truly wonderful start to the day.

We continue on to Bd St Germaine and criss cross a couple of streets before getting to the Pantheon (Yes - there is one in Paris, No - we didn't do a side trip to Greece). Once a church, it was transformed into the National Pantheon where the great would be honoured and so now it houses Voltaire, Louie Braille, Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Marie Curie, Alexandre Dumas and many others. The Pantheon was also the scene of a very famous experiment by Foucault and a pendulum where he proved that the earth rotates around the sun, not vice versa.

We wander on and along to 74 Rue du Cardinal Lemoine - home to Ernest Hemingway. Every friday night a writers party was organised in the cabaret underneath Hemingway's flat. The novelist Jean Rhys wrote of the 'sour smell of drunken bodies' and the 'dangerously cheap brandy' at these parties. Next on to Rue du Pot de Fer where, at no. 6, George Orwell wrote 'Down and Out in Paris and London' - and yes, Simon got the book for Christmas and has read it during our travels.

We finish our wanderings by going through a local Sunday morning market and pick up some yummy looking goodies for dinner at home tonight. A ride on the metro and we are back at the apartment to drop off our purchases and to consider the afternoons activities.

Out and about again - this time to the Conciergerie. This was the main prison during the 'Reign of Terror' and was used to incarcerate alleged enemies of the revolution before they were brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal in the Palais de Justice next door. Among the 2700 prisoners held here before being sent of to the guillotine was Marie Antoinette. A very interesting littel piece of revolutionary France.

Children have had about as much fun as they can stand in one day, so they head back to the apartment whilst Steve and Bronwen head off to the Museum of the Middle Ages where an very interesting collection of 10th and 11th century objects is displayed. Most notable is the tapestry of 'The Lady with the Unicorn' - a series of late 15th century tapestries from the Netherlands.

Even Steve and Bronwen have now had enough fun - back to the apartment for a well deserved Vodka and Tonic. Dinner in with a good red and a peaceful nights sleep.