Day 5 A Second Day In Paris - Sid and Doris Bonkers and their Epic Journeys

In which Sid and Doris take in the big sights in a grand walking tour.After the shock of Sunday night’s crowds in the Marais, it was reassuring to find Notre Dame and the banks of the Seine quite empty. To confirm to ourselves that there really are fewer tourists than normal and we are not being stupidly reckless in attempting the Grand Tour, we plotted a walking tour of the Big Sights. After all, we could always go walking in the hills for a couple of weeks instead.

Like so many Sid and Doris ideas, this one grew in the planning and we ended up with a 14km walking tour to the Louvre, Tuileries Gardens, Place de la Concorde, Trocadero, Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, Invalides and back via St Germain, the 6th Arrondissement (our new Top Tip for a great place to stay in Paris, btw).

Each and every one of these was surrounded by building works. It would appear that the French authorities have got together and said “so lads, the tourist season is well and truly stuffed and we need to inject some jobs into the local economy, so let’s take the opportunity to dig the place up”.

Sid and Doris believe that the last thing that their trusty blog reader(s) wants is to see lots of photos of Paris so we have limited ourselves to just four:

Two pictures of the Louvre showing No Queues, even in the substantial queueing system.

A picture of the Eiffel Tower because you must.

And a picture of the Eglise St Germain because it is so very pretty that it will make you smile with happiness.

The undoubted high point of the day was the Petits Bateaux in the Jardin des Tuileries, see separate note by Doris. We have absolutely no idea why these are not mobbed with eager would-be sailors queueing round the block for their chance to sail the Pirate Corsair (note: that must be said with the correct Poirrrrrate Arrr pronunciation) or the Round The World Deep Keeler.

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