France, 30th June - 2nd July (By Ella)

After 10 weeks with friends and family in England, Spain and Ireland, we were on our own again! We were lucky to get to Paris on the Eurostar as many trains had been cancelled due to trouble on the French side of the tunnel.  

We got off the train at Gare Du Nord station, and we decided to walk to our hostel which was 1km away. We started walking the wrong way, so altogether walked well over 1km with all our bags!

It is expensive to stay in Paris, and Dad had spent $500 for two nights in a room in a hostel for us. This was more than twice our usual accommodation budget, and it was probably the worse place we have stayed!  It was so hot and we were happy to get there. This is a picture of us at the top of the hill - exhausted!

Nearly at the hostel:

When we were planning the trip and we were saying where we wanted to visit, my first vote was Paris! We only had one full day in Paris, so we got up early and caught the metro (under ground train) to a station near the Eiffel Tower. After a short walk - we finally got there, and decided it was to hot to walk up it, so we just danced in the sprinklers! Their were lots of them around, and we weren't the only ones who had this idea!

Our first view of the Eiffel Tower,
complete with Skippy on the building!

On the Metro

The Eiffel Tower and dancing in the sprinklers:

We hopped back on the Metro and went to the Notre Dame Cathedral:

After we had worked out how to get back to the hostel, it was nearly dark. Nearby was the Sacre Coeur, a stunning Roman Catholic Church and basilica that was completed in 1914. Whilst we were walking near to the Sacre Coeur, I heard a little squeak. In the bushes, there were 2 newborn, blind hedge hogs walking around. We all thought it was very cute, and a french lady said "In Paris, how strange".

Inside the Sacre Coeur

The Sacre Coeur

View from the Sacre Coeur

Spot the two hedgehogs!

The next morning, I went with Dad to pick up a car we were leasing for the next four months whilst driving around Europe - a Renault Espace - and we all set off in the direction of Germany. On the way we stopped overnight at a guest house in Freyming, France. The owner asked if we would be in his adverts, and the next morning a film crew arrived and videoed us at breakfast and interviewed Dad!

The owner provided an excellent
breakfast as part of his
advertising

Our car until November

We had a great time in France and am looking forward to visiting the South of France again in September.