The radioman family 2011 European Holiday. (pic heavy)

When we got to Notre Dame there was massive ques to go inside, luckily these went down really quickly & we went inside. Its a massive building & is awe inspiring, unfortunately we couldn't go to the top as it was too late in the day.
When I return to Paris in the future I will go up & also up the Arch de Triumph & around the museum & art gallery in the Louvre:-

 

After Notre Dame we walked up the other side of the river Seine, by now I realised that flip flops were a bad idea. It was nice to walk past all the street vendors towards the Eiffel Tower. As we got nearer to the tower there were loads of stalls selling every kind of food you could imagine from sushi to keebab s. Some of the hygiene standards didn't look to clever so we give it a miss. Most of the traders were only there because it was national day & the later the day got the busier it became. The Eiffel Tower & the streets around it were closed off which was disappointing. I asked a police officer who spoke excellent English & he explained that they have a free music concert in the gardens around the tower & at 23.30 there is a large firework display:-

 

As the last bus back to the camp site was at 23.00 we decided to head back, on the way the girls asked if I'd buy them some sweets so I asked the woman how much & she pointed to a sign that said 3 Euros I told the girls to pick what they wanted, so they picked a few sweets each. The woman smiled & pointed vigorously gesturing for them to get more so they did. The she took the bags off them grabbed a handful of chocolate nuts & chucked them in, I thought this was very generous, then she weighed the bags & said 30 Euros I said no 5 Euros she kept pointing to the 3 Euros sign, I didn't know what she was on about as in my book 2 3 Euros is 6 Euros not 30 Euros. I started arguing, then her son in his big black leather jacket stood up, trying to look threatening. In the end I just chucked one of the bags of sweets on the counter & the other at him, he started shouting some crap & we walked off. I was glad to see the back of the old witch with her face like a robbers dog & her son who looked like something out of a horror movie.

 

Walked back to the Arch de Triumph & the streets by now were deserted, everyone had headed to the tower. We grabbed a Quick burger & headed for the bus.
By the time we got back to the van the fireworks were in full swing & they went on for ages. Very impressive we were about 7 miles away & still had a clear view.
Once we'd watched the fireworks we all went straight to bed we'd walked miles that day.

 

The next morning we got up & had breakfast, we all had blisters so decided to drive into Paris rather than walk & bus it.
We drove straight to the Eiffel Tower & parked right by it. Parking was easy but very expensive & the instructions on the machine are only written in French. I had to go to a local newsagent & but a card for 10 Euros, the card had 10 Euros of credit on it then it cost 7.20 Euros for 2 hrs parking:-

 

The tower is an impressive sight & well worth a visit, the ques to go up it were huge so we decided to come back to it at night. There was no way I could go to Paris & not go up the Eiffel Tower, I went up once as a small child but I can't remember anything about that:-

 

Still to tired to walk we decided to drive up & down the River Seine & along the Champs Elysees & on to the Arch de Triumph:-
Drive down the Champs Elesey Paris in Milly

 

We drove out from the centre of Paris, about 2KM we found a quiet street adjacent to a church & a small park bought our lunch in a local supermarket & had it in the van, doors open next to a park, Corned Beef Baguette & crisps. This was great until this bum came up to me, while I was eating & asked for money. I told him where to go in the universal language & when he still persisted I pushed him away & pulled the door. Luckily he didn't touch the van otherwise, I'd have to explain to the Police why he had a bread knife sticking out of his suede.
After food we went to the park for Leah to play & this got a bit spoilt by all the drunks lounging on the grass, inc my new mate who was drinking cheap champagne, even though he said earlier he wanted money for food, lucky I hadn't given him money or Id have been right upset:-

 

I just had to get a picture of the van under the arch of the Arch de Triumph, you can't actually get under it as it's pedestrianized but I wanted to get as close as possible. I had tried earlier in the day & nearly got run over, then a Police car came & I nearly got a ticket. This time we planned it better, I would drop Amy off she would stand on an island in the middle of the road & line up the shot, I would pull in hazard lights on, wait untill she took a good picture & put her thumb up & then I'd pull off & pick her up. It went like clockwork:-

 

The streets Of Paris are full of beggars, bums & tramps who pee on the streets in public view, another annoying thing is all the street hawkers who sit in the middle of the floor with all they're wares laid out trying to sell their crap. If you see them notice that every corner of their mat has a string on it so they can grab all 4 corners & run without loosing anything. Aside from this & the fact that every thing is so expensive, its a really good place to visit, there is so much history & so much to see & do, our 2 days were not enough. I think you need at least a week to see all the sights properly maybe even 2 if your off to Euro Disney as well.

 

After our lunch & photos at the Arch de Triumph we headed back towards the campsite, on route there is a lovely small lake & waterfall called Le Grande Cascade You can walk around & sit on the benches, that is if you can find a space which isn't filled with an old man with his dog. We saw one old guy really losing his cool with his dog who wouldn't leave the lake even though the bloke wanted to go, he was shouting & stamping his feet, in the end he started throwing sticks at the mut:-