21 May 2025
Today was going to be a slower paced day. We achieved that by only walking 15km vs the 20km covered on our first day! Due to the lack of training preparation for walking the Camino Del Norte in a couple weeks time, we elected to cover most of Paris on foot rather than the convenience of the Paris Metro.
We started the day with a tour of the Hotel de la Marine where we were once again blown away by the pure opulence of the French and their obsession over beautiful objects. Ooh la la! (Nothing much has changed in that respect).
Then the uphill walk to the Basiligue du Sacre Coeur but not without a little sugar hit from half a dozen pop in your mouth, exotic flavoured macaroons from Ladurée. Sacre Coeur was impressive only tainted by the long wait and pestering gypsies attempting to sell overpriced umbrellas to unsuspecting customers who didn’t like getting a few drops of rain on their heads! Not to mention the over enthusiastic singer who from time to time drew enough encouragement that unfortunately for most of us kept him going!
Last stop was Lafayette just to confirm that yes, Parisians do like handbags and perfume, but whilst not interested in any of these, and thankfully neither was Jenny, the glass dome was the draw card for us!
A booked dinner reservation at Cafe Camille, just down the street from our hotel completed an enjoyable stay in Paris, the city of lights.
Tomorrow we’ll be catching the train to Bordeaux for a day of sightseeing before commencing on our cycling adventure.