How cool is this photo … I took it at 1 am on my last night in Paris … from the bedroom window. I turned the camera to manual and did a slow exposure while the Eiffel Tower was Twinkling for the last time that night and the last time for me this year!

This photo was taken at sunset and I love it too.

Tuesday was my day to get organised. I did make it to Apple to sort out the chargers and get a couple of things John needed. I did some shopping and cooking and froze it for my host when she arrives home on the weekend.

Wednesday I headed out sightseeing again. This time I went to the Palais de Tokyo – Musee D’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Fortunately it had free entry as I didn’t really like it much. There were a couple of very large works by Matisse that weren’t really my thing. Then there was an eclectic mix of art that once again didn’t impress me much. The architecture of the museum wasn’t very exciting either … so in a word or two … don’t bother.

Then wandered along Rue Montaigne and then into the end of the Champs Elysee. As you can see autumn has well and truly hit Paris and the leaves are falling. It was 32 degrees last week and this week it is 16. Huge difference. I only had shorts with me and I can tell you I got some strange looks.

I knew that there was an exhibition commencing at the Grand Palais at 3 pm. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, I thought from the pictures that it was a sculpture exhibition. I just wanted to get inside the Grand Palais to have a look. I stood in the freezing cold for half an hour in a queue waiting to get in. I was wandering what the hell I was doing and nearly gave up a couple of times. As it turned out it was like a tradeshow showcasing all different types of art … from sculptures to jewellery, handmade eyeglasses, paintings, light sculptures, flower sculptures, elaborate tap fittings … my favourite was the exhibition by the Les Bottiers de France … bootmakers!

Things kept cropping up that I knew different members of my family would love … for Jack … a great studio setup.

For Daisy … remember that lovely ironwork sculpture you bought in New Zealand.

For Till … Louboutin shoes on a nude … this could be you!

An Herme saddle for John …

…Japanese artwork … they really are different the Japanese!

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition. From there I wandered over to Saint Germaine and found this fabulous art shop that I had read about …

It was fabulous and had a very interesting range of materials … there were hundreds and hundreds of different paint brushes in several locations in the shop.

Then I found this fabulous florist. It was art in real life! I loved it!

Thursday I cleaned, did a little apartment shopping and bought my train ticket from SNCF … they have shops around town and you can go in and buy your train tickets. So much easier than rocking up at the station with all of your gear and trying to buy a ticket. I hate train stations they always have creepy people hanging around them.

My train journey yesterday afternoon was uneventful. John was there at the platform waiting for me. We had decided to have date night … so found a restaurant and had a bottle of wine. We had both been off it for a couple of weeks. He also gave me a flower when I got in the van. We had a nice meal and then headed home to “the farm”.

We will be here until probably next Sunday. The other English people that are staying here will be arriving next Friday. We said we would hang around to make sure they are ok with the animal duties. We will see what they are like. We will probably move back into the van when they arrive.