After only three days at the villa we were on the TGV to Paris. Lily behaved herself for the four hour journey mainly because there were loads of people to smile at and they were literally sitting ducks for all of her flirting.
We stayed in the Opera district which was great even though we originally wanted to stay in the Latin Quarter, but considering we were booking our hotel only 15hours before we arrived we weren’t in a position to be fussy. It was soo cold the first night but we were lucky enough to have ‘warmish’ sunny days for the rest of our stay which was great since we spent the four days strolling around showing Lily the sights although every time we got to somewhere of significance she was asleep. It was a little like the ‘sleeping tour of Paris’.
Lily at the Louvre 
Lily at the Arc de Triomphe 
Lily at the Eiffel Tower
The christmas lights along the Champs Elysees were absolutely amazing – we went into Zara and did more shopping (for me this time) and when we came out the whole boulevard was lit up and I was blown away at how magical it looked. I almost got killed trying to take this photo in the middle of the road!
We went to the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon but little Lily was asleep and we wanted to go back to see the lights anyway but when we arrived back there at 7pm Lily was asleep again but luckily she woke up just in time to see the flashing lights (I promise I didn’t accidentally poke her). She absolutely loved the flashing lights and was so mesmerised by them she cried when we rolled her away!
We are not sure where she learnt this cheesy grin from but she is constantly flashing those pearly whites!
You have to love facebook – a friend from Spain who I lost contact with found me on facebook only a week ago and she just happened to be in Paris working for a few weeks so we were able to meet up for lunch and a stroll around Paris. We had not seen Isabel for about five years so it was wonderful to see her. 
We were able to spend a few hours at Musee D’Orsay, one of my favourite museums – I wasn’t quite sure on the Lily factor but thank goodness she enjoyed looking at all the pretty colours as much as we did.
View of Montmartre from Musee D’Orsay 
I am not looking forward to joining the masses doing the christmas shopping when we get home but nothing could be as chaotic as our experience at Galleries Lafayette – complete madness! It was like being in the mosh pit at a concert but you were actually in a department store with people buying Prada, Tiffanys, Louis Vuitton (btw we were flicking through The Times newspaper and who would you expect to be the next face of Louis Vuitton? Scarlett Johannson perhaps, no, the latest advertisement features Mikhail Gorbachev!). The shoe department is like a dream come true but the hundreds of people (and the lack of enough money) meant you couldn’t really enjoy it for all it’s worth. I left with only a new hat but I was glad to get out of there, you could feel your stress levels drop when you walked out the doors.
It was so lovely to be in Paris again and it was wonderful that the winter weather allowed us time to walk the streets and since we had been there before we were able to take in more of the real Paris rather than just the famous sites. 
It’s getting a little sad now since we only have a few days left here in Provence then five days in London and then we are back home in time for family dinner on the 12th. In saying that we are happy to be coming home after over four months away and plus Lily is looking forward to being naked more often.
We will miss the French pop music (even though I have little idea of what they are singing, but Michael likes Vanessa Paradis’ latest song), the endless aisles of Carrefour, all of those croissants and delicious pastries, good value French wine and champagne, and of course the shopping – although we are paying for it now as we are packing. Monty is proving to be a bit of a challenge to fit into the suitcase but he has to come home!
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