Kelly's European travel diary - Paris

Kelly and her family are touring Europe and she has promised to keep us updated with all their travel experiences.

Here Kelly brings us her second blog as she and her family arrive in Paris and visit many of the famous things that the French city is famous for.

Ah Paris - just the name conjures up images of world famous sights, Frenchmen wearing berets and baguettes a-plenty.

The view from the Eiffel Tower.

Having stopped over in Singapore for 24 hours to break our journey on the way to Europe, we are now almost at the end of our stay here in the French capital, and what a time we've had. Contrary to popular belief, we have found the French to be courteous and helpful, and many speak at least a little English. Many a time we've used the few French words we know and a bit of sign language to converse, and have always made ourselves understood. It is true that the French appreciate your attempt to speak their language, and why not? After all, we are in their country!

Having read every imaginable thing I could lay my hands on about Paris' sights, I still could not help being blown away by their grandeur and beauty. The Eiffel Tower was just awesome, and despite being scared of heights, I decided to conquer my fears, agreeing to go up to the first level (57m). How glad I am! The view was stunning and it really felt extremely safe. Luckily it wasn't a very busy day, but the queue to buy tickets still took about 40 minutes - on a busy day I wouldn't be surprised if you had to wait a couple of hours.

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe which required plenty of stamina to climb the 284 spiral stairs to the top. Again the views were awesome, giving us a real perspective of the layout of Paris. We were glad we could access the Arc via the underground pedestrian walkway, as the roundabout in which it is centred is the junction of 12 busy streets - the traffic is a sight to see!

A walk from the Arc along the Avenue des Champs-Elysees to the Place de la Concorde and the Tuileries Gardens finished our day's sightseeing, so we headed for the Metro for the journey back to our apartment.

Day 2 was a bit of a culture hit, not that we are art connoisseurs by any stretch of the imagination! Our first stop was Place des Vosges, located in the Bastille region, and it is a quadrangle of 36 symmetrical houses built in 1605. The writer, Victor Hugo, once lived there.

Paris from the Pont Neuf.

From there we headed to the Louvre for a quick visit. We really only had two things we wanted to see - the glass pyramid and, of course, the Mona Lisa. After the obligatory photos and a coffee and snack at Starbucks Louvre-style, we crossed the Pont Neuf to the Left Bank. Having packed croissants for our lunch, we ate them by the Seine, watching the boats go by, before making our way to Musee d'Orsay. Housed in Paris' former railway station built in the early 1900's, we were as impressed by the buildings as much as the impressionist artworks - superb!

With weary legs, we again caught the Metro home to our apartment.

With only one full day left in Paris, it was difficult to decide how to spend it - there was still so much to see but not enough time (maybe next trip!). We decided to begin with a visit to Bastille Marche (market) where the kids bought souvenirs and where you could buy every kind of food imaginable. We then headed to the Chateau Versailles, about 30 minutes from central Paris by train, after we had wandered around the Notre Dame Cathedral.

On arrival in Versailles, we re-fuelled before heading to the Chateau. We spent about an hour wandering around the massive gardens, in awe of their size and splendour. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to go inside the Chateau itself, it had started to rain and we didn't fancy waiting in the long ticket queue in the rain, so that too will have to wait until another time. Just wandering around the gardens, though, made the trip out to Versailles worthwhile.

On our way back to Paris I remembered reading about a new Princess Grace of Monaco exhibition that was being held at Hotel de Ville - co-incidentally the same place where we had to change Metro lines. I convinced the rest of the family that we should take a look.

Market Day in Paris.

A 30 minute queue (thankfully by now it had stopped raining) didn't impress them, but they stuck it out and soon we were inside. The exhibition is just amazing and includes personal letters and telegrams sent to the Princess (including ones from Prince Rainier and Jackie Kennedy), family photos and home movies, gowns and jewels worn by the Princess, her Academy Award and much more. It was fantastic, and although the boys were keen to move on, I could have stayed much longer. The free exhibition is on until August 16.

And so our visit to Paris has come to and end. We didn't get to Montmartre or the Latin Quarter, but we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this beautiful city and would certainly recommend a visit to anyone, whether they be singles, couples or families.

Next destination: Burgundy.

Read more handy travel tips here.

The glass pyramid at the Louvre.

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