Paris next day

This morning the group travelled to Montmartre in the north of Paris a very touristy area promoted as a traditional artists' colony. On return to the city I took myself off to the Paris Opera for a self tour of the theatre and in the evening rejoined the group for a river cruise and farewell dinner.

We travelled to Montmartre by the Metro; requiring two trains in each direction. Three of the four train trips were in packed carriages. It looks like the Paris Metro has very extended peak periods.

Montmartre sits high above the rest of Paris...

This woman had her silhouette done...

The Paris Opera is spectacular to excess...here is a side lounge running the length of the auditorium...

...the dome in the auditorium...

...a section of the auditorium...

...on the other hand there was not much glitter in the men's toilet...

The river cruise was a disappointment not because of the dinner nor for the sights available to be seen along the Seine but for the fact that it was all done and dusted by 9pm. We were expecting to see Paris 'illuminated' as per the brochure for our trip but with daylight saving and the Northern Hemisphere's longest day approaching Paris was still in broad daylight at 9.30pm so no buildings were illuminated at that time; indeed even the streetlights had not yet been activated.