Last Week- Races, Manchester and Paris Days 1,2 and 3

Hi all,
We are in Paris, but I thought I'd better write something leading up to Paris first.
Last week was the last week of school until early September (it is going to take something disastrous to wipe the smile of my face!). The highlight (and lowlight) of the last week was the School trip to go Paintballing. I went with both Declan and Billy and about 45 kids and 5 staff. It was quite enjoyable, except for the student who put a couple of marbles in with the paintballs. They would have killed someone if he wasn't caught!
On Saturday I went to Newbury races (about 2 hour drive) on a bus trip and got home about midnight - enjoyable day but paid for it the next day. The races were of a good standard and betting wise I left the track 8 pounds up. From the race track we went to Chepstow and"invaded" a club, where there were lots of drinks and singing - the highlight being "Down Under" and "Waltzing Matilda".
Sunday morning, we drove to Manchester to meet Linda and Doug, who had flown in from Melbourne on the way to Scotland. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel where they were staying - Midlands Hotel, afterwards we had a little wander around the city and then headed home. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day. On they way home we went via Old Trafford and the the new football stadium of Manchester United.
Early Monday morning we caught a plane from Cardiff to Paris and arrived at our Apartment at about 1:00 pm. After settling in we went for a walk to Sacre Coeur. It has magnificent views over Paris and the mosaic (sorry, no photos) inside the cathedral is worth the visit.
From Sacre Coeur, we walked to the Moulin Rouge and then back to our apartment. That evening Tania and Jeff Cornish come over and we had lots of fun drinking, laughing and generally being silly!
Tuesday morning was very slow but we walked into the heart of Paris, where we saw the Louvre, La Seine, Notre Dame and the Bastille, by this stage Kristin and Andy (to a small degree) were spent, so we caught the Metro home for a kip. Tuesday evening we went to the Eiffel Tower, where we met Tania and Jeff for drinks and had our dinner on the lawns (there may have been a drink or two,... Tan, Jeff, Kristin and the boys at about 10 pm climbed the first 2 levels of the tower (about 700 steps), while Andy minded the bags and gear. We also had a bit of fun buying trinkets and more beers from the Somalian touts! We arrived home about 1 am.

Wednesday, we caught the metro to the Arc de Triomphe, did the tourist things and then wandered down the Champs Elysees back to the Louvre. What a fantastic avenue and everywhere you looked you can see some of the most wonderful building and landmarks that Paris has to offer.
It is late Wednesday afternoon, and we are back in our apartment having a quiet beer watching the Tour de France (pity about Cadel not doing well! - I'll have a word to him on Sunday!) and are expecting Tania and Jeff over for a good-bye drink (they leave tomorrow morning).
Au revoir for now.
PS all the pics are going up each day.