Paris

In the morning we were taken on a city tour mainly by bus. It's not the way to get an in depth appreciation of a city, certainly not one with as much to explore as Paris but at least the tour put various locations in a context for further exploration. It is 38 years since my previous visit and my memories from that time are fairly vague so I certainly welcomed this refresher.

The one stop we made was to visit the Eiffel Tower which surely must be one of the most photographed and visited locations on earth.

My photo is no different from hundreds of millions of identical predecessors but the taking and publishing of it is no less satisfying for the image has been seen and taken by myself and so I inflict it on you.

We had tickets to take us up to level 2 which is the second of the platforms you can see in the photograph. That is still a long way short of the summit at level 3 which is the bubble near the top but I can assure you if you have not visited the tower that level 2 nonetheless provides spectacular views across the entire city.

As we queued to pass through security and ticket check electronic signage indicated delays of up to 45 minutes reaching level 2, such were the number of visitors. I imagine there are far longer delays on many busier days. It was sobering to note soldiers in bum hugging camoflage uniforms and with machine guns slung over their shoulders patrolling the grounds, a sight we saw repeated at various venues later on.

We entered the tower through the East pillar.

Some of my snaps from level 2...

Soldiers patrolling the grounds...

We found another nearby Brasserie for our lunch following which we walked back across to City Island to visit the Musee D'Orsay where we marvelled at magnificent paintings by Manet, Van Gogh and Gaugin amongst others. Photography was not permitted there.

After resting at our hotel a group of us spent the evening at the Moulin Rouge dinner and show. Again photography was not permitted.

After returning to the hotel at around 11.20pm I rushed out with my camera to capture the Eiffel Tower by night as seen from the Louvre...

...and finally our hotel at night...