Paris: 10-15 December

[Writing from Doha International Airport, Qatar: in transit from Paris en route to Kathmandu, but our plane is delayed so we've 6.5 hours to explore the airport. We have many bones to pick with Qatar Airlines - exceptionally rude staff & check-in slower than a sedated tortoise that took almost 2 hours!]

Paris was fantastic! We had a bit of a love hate relationship at first - the majority of the people were quite rude & unhelpful, things are frightfully expensive, the food & coffee are most definitely over-rated & some of the early tourist sights we saw were real duds.

But things picked up - it is a singularly beautiful city; they do grand avenues & state monuments in resplendent style. We had an absolutely jam packed week & saw many of the highlights of Paris:

First up, to the charming & historically seedy suburb of Montmarte Basilica of Sacre Couer (funded at the cost of two men who bet on a French military victory) & the spectacularly infamous Moulin Rouge. We saw a fantastic cabaret show in the famed house, featuring dozens of French wenches scantily clad in two beads & feathers.

The next morning we trotted into the city onto an gorgeous island on the River Seine to the Cathedral of Notre Dame ( no hunchback sighted though). Laden with gothic architecture and catholic symbols from the 19th century, the cathedral is awe-inspiring and housed famous events in French history including the crowning of Napoleon.

The guide books led us to visit the Musee d'Orsay, which turned out to be a goldmine of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and cameos from every famous painter since the 19th century. We stood before Manet's Olympia, Van Gogh's Self Portrait and other renowned works.

The view from the apex of the iconic Eiffel Tower was grand, and we loved spotting other Parisian landmarks that were on our itinerary.

A footonote in most guidebooks, the little known Saint Chapelle resides within the Palais d'Justice (law courts of Paris), but was worth the detailed security check to witness the splendid gothic architecture at its best in a tall thin chapel walled almost entirely by glass. The stained glass windows are the oldest originals in France (14th century), and in sequence narrate books of the Bible. The large hall bathes one with colours as the sunlight peers through the glass in an amazing structure.

We then climbed to the top of another Parisian icon, the Arc de Triomphe and watched the gorgeous sunset on the backdrop of other icons - the Tour Eiffel and the Musee d'Louvre. It was commissioned by Napoleon around 1805 to commemorate French military victories.

The Musee d'Louvre was spectacular, and cannot be overstated. It's sheer size, grandeur and the amazing collection was worth the visit, and we even payed our respect to the Mona Lisa housed behind plate glass and barracaded off.

Chateau de Versailles, the new official residence of the French monarchs since the reign of Louis XIV (c. 1661) until the French revolution (c. 1789 - when European Australia was 1 year old!) Elegance and opulence exuded from this grand palace, studded with gold, artworks and wealth.

A super thankyou to our very kind friend, Matthieu (met in Kruger Park, of all places on earth!) who very generously lent us his flat for the duration of our stay, in the gorgeous suburb of Fontenay-aux-Roses, an easy 20min Metro ride from city. It was wonderful Matthieu & we hope to see you in Australia soon!