Our flights on Singapore Airlines went without a hitch – so much food and alcohol on the first shorter leg that we had landed before we knew it. The three hour stopover in Singapore went quickly. We had hoped to catch up with my sister Robyn and my brother-in- law Barrie who were there as well but they were waiting for a flight to London at Terminal 1 and we were at a Terminal 3. Needless to say we didn’t – Changi Airport is huge!

We have booked an apartment in Saint Martin for three nights. It is in a handy spot with Metro stations close by plus small supermarkets and boulangeries a few steps away. It is a bit noisy, but we like being close to everything.

The weather in Paris today started off much better than I expected, but some light rain came as we were making our way to the Eiffel Tower.

The metro system is very easy and cheap to use. We are always amazed at how many people are below street level in Paris.

Luckily we had pre-booked our lunch tickets and access to the Eiffel Tower. You can see the line Michael is in for our access (last photo) compared with another photo I have included with hundreds of people lined up.

The Eiffel Tower certainly is a raw and impressive construction. The views were amazing even with the drizzling rain.

French people have been so friendly and helpful to us on our first day.

Arriving from the Airport at the Gare du Nord.