Well, I set of this morning for a short walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral to check on the progress of the repairs after the terrible fire. On the way there took a long detour through the 11th, 3rd and 4th arrondissement's and called in to see the Saint Eustache Church (with its double stacked buttresses) near Halles. Finally arriving at what is left of Notre Dame about lunch time. It is absolutely amazing the shear volume of the repairs still to be done and the amount of scaffolding. I did find it interesting the see how flying buttresses were made. Once there, I decided to make my way to St-Germain, and it was there I thought I may as well walk to the Eiffel tower. After a few happy snaps I then decided to walk to the Arc de Triomphe, then I decided to walk the length of the Champs-Elysees back to the Louvre, and complete the "big five" in one day. On the way back to my hotel I took a 4km detour to a patisserie (why will become clear tomorrow!!) So today, being my last day in France I knocked out over 20km, a record for the trip to date.
I arrived in France in late March and travelled just over 4,500km and stayed in over 16 towns and cities. I managed to get through the whole trip with very limited french (thanks Duo-Lingo). I have eaten very well but still lost 5kg's. I think I know where I will settle for a longer period of time on my next trip, as this trip was all about "flanure" - just having a look around!. Now its back to the UK for Margaret's birthday, and the Coronation on Saturday.
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