It was another early start for us. (I'd been awake since 1.30am). We caught the Tube to St. Pancras station where we met Julie. We checked in, cleared immigration & hopped on the Eurostar (below) bound for Paris. The trip is only 2-1/2 hrs & travels over 250 km/hr! From hotel to hotel it ends up quicker than flying thanks to the hours of travel to & from the airports along with having to check in 2 hrs before the flight.
It's quite a pleasant trip over all. By the time we'd navigated the Metro (like the Tube in London) we arrived at the hotel around 11.30am local time & ditched our bags with reception.
Our hotel was just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower so we stopped for a couple of tourist snaps before going for a cruise on the River Seine.
Many of the bridges over the Seine bear the markings of opulent Napoleon times (below).
After floating past many of the famous sights of Paris such as the Louvre, we came across Notre Dame (below).
We grabbed a baguette from a street vendor & ate it in a surprisingly quiet garden at the back of Notre Dame. From the park, the famous flying buttresses of the grand cathedral are evident (below).
After lunch we lined up at the side of the cathedral in order to climb the towers. We were lined up for 20 minutes or so but were entertained by a street performer who wore a scary mask, snuck up on unsuspecting passersby, scaring the living daylights out of them.
After climbing seemingly endless flights of spiral stairs, we reached the top. There are plenty of gargoyles to be seen from street level, but the ones at the top of the tower are much more interesting (above & below).
The view across Paris is pretty much uninterrupted as well. Montmartre (below) on the hill in the distance was easy enough to see despite the smog.
We descended the spirals to the ground and went into the cathedral.
The gothic architecture is most dominant inside.
The stained glass windows are legendary, particularly the giant circular windows (below) the French hid from the Germans during WWII.
We stopped outside in tourist central for a photo of the main entrance (below).
We caught the next river boat back to Place de la Concorde. After some tricky traffic dodging, we found a traffic island where we could take some photos.
The Obelisk in the centre has some gold features that change to green depending on what angle you look at it (see above & below).
There's also a fountain, Pont de la Concorde (below).
Looking away from the Obelisk & the fountain you can look all the way along the Champs Elysees (below) to the Arch de Triumph.
As we were leaving Place de la Concorde we saw a guy making huge bubbles with a hoop (below). It kept the crowd amused for a little while.
After more traffic dodging we found a Metro station & made our way to Montmarte that we'd seen from Notre Dame earlier in the day.
There was a festival of some sort at Montmartre. They had live music & lots of food & craft stalls. There were also lots of people! We found a restaurant to have dinner & a couple of glasses of red.
Dinner was nice (but a bit pricey) & the desserts were pretty nice as well.
By the time we'd finished dinner it was dark. We took a couple of photos of Montmartre before catching the Metro back to the hotel.
Our hotel was just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower so we stopped for a couple of tourist snaps before going for a cruise on the River Seine. 
After floating past many of the famous sights of Paris such as the Louvre, we came across Notre Dame (below).
The gothic architecture is most dominant inside.
The stained glass windows are legendary, particularly the giant circular windows (below) the French hid from the Germans during WWII. 
We stopped outside in tourist central for a photo of the main entrance (below).
The Obelisk in the centre has some gold features that change to green depending on what angle you look at it (see above & below).
There's also a fountain, Pont de la Concorde (below).
Looking away from the Obelisk & the fountain you can look all the way along the Champs Elysees (below) to the Arch de Triumph.
As we were leaving Place de la Concorde we saw a guy making huge bubbles with a hoop (below). It kept the crowd amused for a little while.
After more traffic dodging we found a Metro station & made our way to Montmarte that we'd seen from Notre Dame earlier in the day.
Dinner was nice (but a bit pricey) & the desserts were pretty nice as well.
By the time we'd finished dinner it was dark. We took a couple of photos of Montmartre before catching the Metro back to the hotel.
