The riches of France

We settled into a cosy apartment in the third quarter of Paris after a very painless journey via one of the 7 wonders of the modern world, the brilliant high speed train connecting central London and Paris in under 3 hours.

We were staying in a young Parisian's studio apartment through while he holidayed in Barcelona for the week, very affordable option for pricey Paris ( thanks airbnb).

We got ourselves a museum pass for the week and set of in search of the finest museums in the world. We ticked all the big boxes Louve, Musee D Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Champs d'elysee, Notre Dame etc.

Outside Notre Dame Cathedral

City of lights. It would be more appropriately called the city of lines due to everyone having to line up outside every museum.

It is an understatement to say that after a week in Paris we had seen our fair share of art and museums and had a mild case of museum fatigue. You know the feeling, you start off super enthusiastic and stopping at every painting with an audio guide number so that a curator can explain why a certain painting is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and can be recognised by the majority of the planets 7 billion inhabitants. A few hours later you find yourself prioritising the works that are a must see and quickly walking past and scanning the rest while occasionally glancing at a paintings nameplate and saying with a little to much confidence after listening to the audioguide "oh I thought it looked like a [insert famous painters name eg Renoir, Monet, Picasso] ". After this it doesn't take long for the dreaded "museum fatigue" to kick in, you find yourself slumping on those central couches that are conveniently positioned in the middle of most rooms in a gallery whenever you get the chance and staring at what is in front of you trying to guess why a seemingly plain looking painting has been given the honour of being hung in this grand gallery and is being viewed by 3 million people every day. At this point it is time to weave your way through the labyrinth of passage ways to the nearest exit, retrieve the pocket knife you hid in the garden outside so that it wouldn't be confiscated by museum security scanners upon entry to the museum and go find yourself a little cafe to sip a nice cafe au lait, eat an delicious almond croissant and watch people walking by in the streets.

Listening careful to my Nintendo DS 3D audioguide at the Louve. I think this was in the enthusiastic stage of our visit.

I am being a little cynical, the museums, galleries and buildings are truly amazing and we loved the experiences of Paris.

Wise monkeys

We went on a day trip to Epernay ( the home of Champagne) to sample the best of this fine beverage and tour the famous tunnels under the Avenue of Champagne where over 12 million bottles are sitting waiting to one day be popped open and consumed on any given worldwide celebration. After visiting Moët and Chandon and Mercier Champagne houses we found some lunch and went into a nearby wine shop selling and giving out free samples of a little know champagne label, after the effervescent goodness of the previous tastings this sample was as I disclosed to Caitlin afterwards "brutal and like a punch to the face". Happy and slightly tipsy after a few more nice tastings on the Avenue we headed back to Paris.

In the labrynth of caves under Avenue of Champagne

Finally the best part of the tour

Another day trip from Paris was to Versailles, Louis XIV Royal Chateau in the countryside. The expansive and beautiful gardens and lavish palace almost sent the treasury broke at the time of building and you can understand why the people were disgusted with the lavish lifestyle the aristocrats had and French Revolutions followed to restore the balance of power and distribution of wealth.

Lining up outside Chateaux Versaille, all of these people were in the same lineup, it was worth the wait.

In a small garden of Chateau Versaille

Walking in the Versaille garden and pretending to have a kick of a footy

We enjoyed sampling the local produce and enjoyed several picnics in the gardens around Paris. It was hard to believe you could walk out of a supermarket with a baguette, wheel of cheese, portion of Jamon, olives, pâté ( or some other delicious dip) and a bottle of good red wine for under 10 euros. There is no need for "down down prices are down" ads here, feed a family for $10, Curtis Stone I challenge you to do better than this.

Sampling a delicious gluten friendly rasberry and cream filled macaron

Picnic in the park

We nervously picked up a hire car from central Paris and negotiated the avenues, roundabouts and freeways 600kms down to Bordeaux, our next destination. An Australian on the wrong side of the road travelling 130km/hr on a freeway is a bit of a scary thought but we survived and I gave myself a little pat on the back.

A week staying in a B&B in the Bordeaux countryside followed. We toured the region with our little car visiting chateaus, medieval villages, climbing sand dunes and again sampling delicious wines and local produce from a town farmers markets.

The extensive vineyards near St Emilion

Overlooking the medieval town of St Emilion and protecting my prized box of red wine

Stopped on the side of the road to pick some poppies in a field of canola, Claude Monet must be around here somewhere

Cruising near a Chateau

Caity with our tiny car at a nice picnic spot on the side of a road

Climbed Dune De Pyla near Arcachon, stunning.

Life doesn't get much better than this, the accommodation was rather luxurious, we had a view of the rolling hills and vineyards from our bedroom window and our hosts were lovely. We managed to communicate with them quite well and enjoyed several dinners with lots of wine here.

Our B&B bedroom view

Having a very nice dinner with our lovely B&B hosts Alain and Catherine