Paris - Luxembourg Gardens

Luke joined us for breakfast this morning and then we set off to see some sights. Luke uses the public bicycle system to get around Paris and so today we did the same. There are bicycle stations all over the city, and they are more numerous than what London offers. It costs €2 per day but you can only use one bicycle for 30 minutes at a time, which is more than enough to get to a certain destination and then take another bike to go somewhere else.There are some dedicated bicycle lanes, but quite often the cyclists have to share the bus lanes which I found rather scary - at one point I had a huge bus just inches from my head! Luke is used to the system so cycles around like  local, not stopping at red traffic lights if there is no oncoming traffic, but rather just pausing to check. I found it all rather nerve wracking! Also, Paris is not as flat as London so it was quite an uphill cycle to get to some places.

We stopped off at the Arc de Triomphe, where we went up to the top to see the views which gives one a very good perspective of the layout of the city. Then back down again, where we picked up bikes again and cycled to the Eiffel Tower. We wandered down the Champ de Mars enjoying the sunshine. We collected new bikes again and then cycled to Luxembourg Gardens. These were created in 1612 by Marie de' Medici and this is the second largest park in Paris. Many people were out relaxing in the sunshine and children were sailing boats in the large fountain. This is a view of Luxembourg Palace. We saw the tennis courts where Luke frequently plays tennis with his friends.

Then we walked into the Latin Quarter where we found a pleasant brasserie and had lunch, before getting a taxi back to the hotel. Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Luke before heading off to the airport. He hopes to come home for a weekend before he returns home for Christmas. I will be back in Paris in 3 week's time but it will be with our camera group so I am not sure how much time I will have to see Luke.

I always feel sad saying goodbye to one of the boys, but on a cheerier note Adam will be at home when we get there as he has finally finished his lab project yesterday and will be home for the week.