Keith spent the morning looking for couch surfing hosts in Paris since none of the ones we had written to had been able to host us. It is a time consuming task, and of course he needed to look for accommodation for this night in the hostels and hotels sections as well. I packed and visited the shop to say goodbye to the people there, staying for a good chat and the passing back and forth of information and compliments.
It seemed that our last day would be consumed by necessary but endless research and I was disappointed since I had imagined that the first day of the festa might have something worth going into town to see. Eventually Keith called it quits and we walked in, only to meet hot and sweaty people returning from the running races and not much other action. In our quick tour of the town, which was not busy, we saw some people dressed in red and white, and in particular the volunteer crowd assisters at each intersection. They were resplendent in white with red berets and red scarves around their waists, and all that they needed was a crowd to respond to. I had been noticing an influx of beggars and very scruffy people sitting in doorways over the last week and today there were even more. One of the newcomers had three dogs with him, with one feeding six puppies. Many people were giving him money for the dogs but I hardly ever saw donations to the other beggars. We meant to ask Catherine about the beggars but didn’t get around to it, because some seemed to be fit and well, spoke good French and didn’t have anything to explain why they were on hard times and others displayed deformities or were very old, or had signs saying that they were from Bosnia or Romania.
We straggled back home in the heat and had plenty of time to finish packing and have lunch and a taste of the sangria, which is a Spanish fruit, juice and wine drink that Catherine and her family had made ready for their festival drinks and nibbles party to be held in the evening. It was a delicious fruity punch but Catherine felt that it was a bit too strong and needed adjustments. Catherine kindly drove us to the station where our back packs felt heavier after two more weeks of not carrying them.
The train arrived on time and whisked us off towards Paris.We had organised the tickets a few days before over the internet but if you are able to book tickets months in advance, the cost is a lot cheaper. Our tickets cost 49 Euros each and Jan’s, booked in advance, were about 19 Euros for the night train to Paris. The train was a TGV (very fast train), virtually silent with very little rocking and it whizzed through the countryside at speeds up to 300 kph. Horses, cows, corn, poplar plantations, villages, wind farms and castles all flashed by but not in the total blur that we had expected. As always, the people travelling with us were as interesting as the scenery.
After arriving at our hotel and offloading the luggage, we set off to explore. The evening was warm and balmy, and all of Paris was out picnicking in the parks, dining in the restaurants, strolling around the streets or waiting in the four hour queue to go up the Eiffel Tower. This was Paris as we had never seen it on our winter visits. This was the Paris of dreams.A long vista of trees and grass led to the 12 kg of gold on the dome of the Tomb of Napoleon I and the Musee de L’Armee.
At several intersections we glimpsed the Eiffel Tower, looking very tarty with silver sparkles running up and down it. By the time we reached it the lighting program had moved on to a beautiful blue with purple highlights. It is truly enormous and it is amazing to think that it was built as a temporary exhibit in 1889 at the ‘Expositions Universelles’, and was only saved from being pulled down after twenty years because it had become a scientific utility. 
It stands at the end of the Champ de Mars, which used to be the exercise grounds for the military cadets who trained in the palace-like Military Academy at the other end of the field.
Paris was originally only on an island in the Seine called Ile de La Cite, and gradually it annexed the surrounding villages and areas. Parts of the city, designed by Haussmann and built in Napoleon III's time, are on an immense scale, with wide avenues, parks, gardens, palaces, squares, bridges and many statues. Strict regulations ensured that residential and other buildings would complement and not detract from the grand plan. Money must have been poured into these projects, which all seemed to be on the go at once and certainly created a capital of great splendour.I was immensely excited to be in Paris and could have walked about all night. We took many photos of the tower, wandered towards the Military Academy, looked at the happy and excited groups of people, listened to languages from all over the world and came to the Wall of Peace. There we could type in a peace message which would be added to the enormous display. I thought of my message and found one of the computer keyboards in the wall to start typing. Sadly, due to the vagaries of modern technology, my message, typed twice, didn’t seem to be processed and so I simply said it to the night sky, which a cynic would say will be just as effective.
It was midnight by the time we returned to our room to have something to eat and well after that when Keith finished with emails and finally went to sleep. The view from our attic room was across the rooftops to Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, which shone white and enticing in the distance. Across the road, other seventh floor dwellers were reading, dining and walking about in their apartments which, like our room, were probably so hot that it was difficult to sleep.
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