Paris; Monday, 17 December, 2012

I had a pretty massive breakfast as I intended on it lasting me most of the day, to avoid the temptation of snacking on Crêpes through the day (fat chance I knew, but it was worth a try). After checking out of the hotel and leaving my luggage with them I headed over to Notre Dame again, this time to climb to the top of the South tower.

Having taking in the stunning views from the Cathedral I descended back down to ground level and had a better look around the inside of the building as there wasn’t full mass going on. Then it was down into the metro and round to the Eiffel Tower, but not to climb it, instead I headed down to the river and took one of the many sightseeing cruises leaving from the pontoons down there.

After the sightseeing tour it was time to head up the tower and take in the views, and be amazed by how much people can get away with charging for a sandwich - €7, I decided not to bother!

Descending back down to ground level I started to walk back to the metro at Trocadero station taking some photos of the tower in the strange light that was enveloping it. If took a couple of seconds for the realisation that the reason for the strange light was the impending downpour that even now was starting to spit. I made a hasty exit towards the metro station, but even then I got pretty soaked by the downpour.

I caught the metro out to La Defence, the large area of corporate headquarters and skyscrapers on the edge of the city that ends the formal avenue that starts at Concorde and goes through the Arc de Triomph and on to La Defence.

Having found that it wasn’t possible to go up the Grand Arch that forms the key part of La Defence, and with the time rapidly starting to tick away I caught the metro back to the top of the Champs-Élysées and then took a bus down the length of Frances most famous street to Concorde.

I took quite a few photos at Concorde looking up the Champs- Élysées to the Arc de Triomph and on to La Defence and then it was time to head back to the hotel, collect my stuff, catch the RER round to Gare du Nord and check-in for my Eurostar back to London.