A last visit to the tower, some natural history and a soccer game to round it off...

Our last day ...

Very cold and very windy - a cold snap has arrived - maximum O degrees tomorrow. 

Time to return to the southern hemisphere!

WE had to meet a friend - and what better place to choose 

than under the Eiffel Tower for one last time.

Then off to the Natural History museum at the Jardin de Plantes. 

An incredible building with an extraordinary number of animals on display, 

wonderfully presented. Hamish loved the wolves and the birds of course.

 Finally the Galeries des enfants - full of interactive activities 

about animals in the city, along rivers and in tropical forests.

And to top it off, drinks in the cafe overlooking the animal parade. 

How many places can you have afternoon tea beside a whale skeleton?

And what could be better than a game of football right outside the museum, 

complete with a French player who we think said his name was Jimmy?! 

 

Finally before heading home we walked past a cafe showing a 

Premier League game playing in the snow, and much to Elijah's delight just happened to see a goal! 

Then we visited the Roman amphitheatre built around 200BC but 

only discovered in the 19th century. 

What a last day! 

Some last shots of Paris as our time here winds down...

Christmas in Paris

After a sleep in (for some) and a morning walk (for others) we managed a happy 

Christmas photo of our beautiful children with EVERYONE smiling before 

opening a few little presents we had collected along the way...

This Belgium football Jersey from Isaac to Elijah was a favourite gift...

Table ready for Christmas lunch with our lovely friends the Swainsons...

Thank you for leaving us some lovely little gifts Robin and Craig... we love the decorations.

Some were brave enough to try these little guys, others could not face them... 

They were very difficult to remove from their shells and tasted like earthy butter and garlic.

After lunch the sun began to shine...

. 

So although we had planned a quiet day at home we decided on Montmartre

 (especially for those who had not yet been).

 It is not that common to see the blue sky in winter here and so we couldn't possibly stay inside!

It was so very lovely to see friends and have company for Christmas day in Paris...

Taken as the afternoon progressed...

The view on a fine day is spectacular... as you can see a lot of people thought so!

Montmartre was very busy on Christmas day...busier than it was in November...

This friendly artist was happy to pose with Sacre Coeur in the background...

We enjoyed walking the streets as the evening approached and 

the sky changed like a painters canvas..

The sun sets on Christmas day 2014 in Paris...

Home for Buche de Noel before downtime and bed...

A gargoyle view of Paris

Another visit to Notre Dame, this time to see things from a new perspective!

A gargoglye (or chimera) eye view of Paris... 

This was so much fun and such a different look at Paris. 

We didn't even struggle with the stairs - 

perhaps all this walking we are doing a Paris is doing us good...

The guy above on the left looks pretty bored 

but I guess he's had to look at the same view for a very long time now!

A beautiful view of a beautiful city...

Proof that that least some of us were really up there...

 Back to the lock bridge as Annie had to attach a lock for one Benjamin Gray...

 ...AND Shaun and Danielle needed another suitable backdrop for a romantic shot... It took a lot of courage for Isaac to take this one - Highly embarrassing !!

Elijah writes - this is appropriate because they are married and they love each other.

Drinking the Paris rain and sussing out the snails... on the menu for Christmas lunch...

Elijah writes - running rain water is way better than tap water because tap water has chemicals in it that make it taste disgusting. I can't wait to try snails - to try Mum not eat! I'm sure they will taste delicious but I'm sure I'll like them. 

We enjoyed hearing some familiar carols (in English) at church for Christmas Eve - followed by mulled wine, cheese and biscuits, 'cookies' (it was an American church) and coffee (actually one of the best we've have had in Paris). We prefer our coffees in Australia made on fresh milk...

Elijah writes - the cookies and fizzy juice for supper were amazing. 

Going there was so good. I heard some familiar music.