Day 8 – Geneva to Paris

We jumped out of our (surprisingly comfortable) Suitehotel beds at the usual 7.00 and sped into Geneva in the Daimler to pick up some breakfast at a bakery. After we had filled up on cakes and coffee we wandered round for a couple of hours and found ourselves thoroughly under-whelmed by the city. It is not particularly beautiful, especially after Florence and Milan, and doesn’t really seem to have a sense of identity or any real buzz. We took another look at the big fountain and got back in the car to pound up the motorways to Paris.

After a smooth – and highly tolled – drive up to Paris, we checked ourselves into the Hotel Orleans and the Duchess into a local car-park. We went straight out to see the sights and got the Metro across town to the Arc De Triomphe and Champs Elysses. We couldn’t get right under the arch as veterans were celebrating some of the great French military victories of the past.

We wandered around the corner and along the banks of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and after bypassing the trap of an official looking gentleman telling us the tower closed at six, queued up for half an hour to gain access to the second floor viewing platforms. The system at the tower is clearly absurd as we then had to queue for another half an hour and buy a second ticket to get the lift to the top. It was worth the wait though as the views across Paris in the sunset were superb. See photos here.

After a similarly long wait to get back down to the ground, we consulted the map and decided it was a short walk over to the St Germain district for some supper. After walking for well over an hour, we finally arrived in the Latin Quarter absolutely starving and sat down at the first place that looked half decent. Luckily, it was half decent (the wine especially) and we had a good meal. As it was our last night, we decided to go back to the Port Orleans area where we were staying for another bottle of wine. Splendid.