Our first full day in Paris was a big one! Bright blue skies again ... and a cool breeze, how's our luck!!
We all went about our days separately today. Todd and I headed across the river for a coffee degustation. It was really nice ... and the best croissant so far!
We walked from there to the Notredame. The pink blossoms where in bloom and surrounding the amazing gothic church. The line was huge but it moved really quickly and we were able to get inside for a look. I'm not a huge fan of the gothic churches ... they're a bit dark ... but the stained glass was overwhelmingly beautiful.
We made our way out and down the stairs to the batobus - ferry. The blue skies made it! We hopped on and enjoyed cruising up the river towards to the Eiffle Tower.
Even though it's so touristy I just loved seeing it in real life. It's huge!! And very regal.
We walked up and under it and then across to find some lunch.
I'd also read that the view from the Trocaderes was beautiful so we crossed the bridge and headed up to this popular spot. We lay on the grass after lunch and enjoyed watching the tourists. It was getting fairly warm by this stage and so nice to take our shoes off!
We walked home along the river and Jo and Ash had bought some nibbles. We went out to the Latin Quarter for dinner, Brad tried snails!! The boys had heard of a good pub, The Frog and Princess which we went to try out their beers. It was heaving with people! We quickly realised it was Barcelon vs Paris St Germain (the area the pub was in ... ). We wandered home not long after.

It was such a shame having only one night in Venice. I really felt like  I could have stayed there a week exploring each different alleyway. Even though there wasn't as many "sights" per say to see ... I still loved the picturesque nature of each building and the blue water.

We got up fairly early and caught this above shot of the canals at morning light. We found a spot for a croissant and a coffee and then made our way back home to pack up and head to the ferry.

It was a long journey to the airport on the ferry via several stops. I really enjoyed seeing Venice from the water though! 

We made it to the airport and watched some Orange is the New Black tv series to pass the time until our flight to Paris!

We arrived at Paris along with Brad and Nez and hopped into a cab. It's always really interesting seeing the drive from the airport (outskirts) into the main city. I really enjoy watching the architecture change from something so foreign to suddenly being recognisable from photos and films!

We stayed in the Saint-Germain area and were sharing an apartment with Jo and Ash, who had arrived a few nights earlier.  We were walking along the street and suddenly Ash popped his head out the window. Florence and now Paris ... a bit surreal!

I was really keen for a walk and a bit of a stretch of the legs so I just headed out towards the Luxembourg Gardens which was about a twenty minute walk. It was blue skies again in Paris and so enjoyable to go for a walk past the shops and cafes. The Luxembourg Gardens really surprised me! The white gravel!?
So many people were out sitting on their chairs reading and chatting. Tulips were flowering which was beautiful!

That night we walked about 200m to get dinner from a local jaunt. Todd had found it online and it didn't disappoint! Yummy pate and pickles with bread and butter for a nibble and then we all ordered the duck with mash potato. Delish! Despite the roof being low and us being up on the rickety second level it was a really enjoyable meal!

We walked down to the river and saw all of the love locks (and luckily so, as two weeks after we returned the panels all were removed!)
The were glistening in the sunset .. which was setting so late at night ...
There was a brass band playing on the centre of the bridge and a bunch of crazy Asian tourists going mad for it!
You could see the very top of the Eiffle Tower in the distance and the  sunset turned the sky a really deep pink and red.
We wandered across the bridge, down to the next and then back home. As we turned around to go home the light show started on the Eiffle Tower. Pretty great!

As we did in Santorini, we went to sleep in Venice with the rain heaving down and awoke to the bluest, clearest skies! Pretty swell considering we only had one full day to explore!
The view from our little balcony was magical. A very crooked tower in the distance and looking down through the canal with it's colourful buildings and little bridges.

We headed off in search of some breakfast and wifi. There was a bizarre fun run happening ... men, women, children, dogs, carrying signs .. all hustling through the main square and over the bridges. Not sure what it was all about! Maybe they were celebrating the gorgeous blue sky??!
We got lost on the way to breakfast, trying to find a certain jaunt .. but quickly realised we'd be getting lost fairly often!

Fuelled up and ready to go we wandered through the little alleys and over bridges. Nerida and I were just in our element capturing photos. I've never been in such a photogenic place before. It just seemed everywhere we turned it was just stunning. We stopped for some fruit and found a little pier to sit on. The sun was shining so much that it was creating twinkling stars on the water.
We made our way to the main sqaure, Piazza san Marco and to the Church of Saint Mark. From the 11th century onwards, the building has been known as the Church of gold or Chiesa d'Oro ... and it's no wonder why. Once inside you realise the entire roof is mosaic-ed with tiny, little gold tiles. It was really incredible.
Our luck on this trip with music has been brilliant. St Paul's Basilica, Church of Saint Cecilia and now the Church of Saint Mark. It was so cool to hear the acoustics each time.
Brad was keen on seeing these four horses that guard the building. They have removed the originals and placed them inside the church/museum. The four that stand outside are replicas.

We found some food for lunch and then split up to keep wandering. We had no real plans to be honest and spent it just wandering around. Mum and Dad had recommended catching the ferry down the Grand Canal so we kept walking towards to the top of the island. A few people kept walking past up with these interesting looking ice creams and we tracked it down to a Magnum store. There, you could build your own magnum! So good! We ate these out on the edge of the canal and soaked up some more sunshine.

The ferry ride down the canal is something I'll never forget. I'm so glad Dad recommended it. The ferries were open each side so you could stand and soak up the view. Taxis, speed boats, men in blue striped shirts steering the gondolas, people having long lunches on the water's edge ...
And all of these buildings just right there on the water's edge.

We hopped off at San Marco and walked through a series of local artists, all with their umbrella's set up, painting in the shade. We picked a water colour from an artist who was wonderful to chat to. A special piece to bring back home with us. We moseyed home to rest our legs for a bit before heading out to catch the golden light.

Together we ate a restaurant close by and enjoyed fish and salad. Even though it was our last night in Italy, we were fairly sick of pizza and pasta!

Venice. Wow.