We had breakfast, packed the car and went into Chartres to try to get to an ATM machine (successful) and internet (café was closed). It gave us a chance to see a bit more of the town including a memorial to the revolution and a market.

The handover of the car went well as did the trip to the apartment . We had clocked up more than 10,000 km in 42 days in the car. While the car had some minor annoying features (e.g. the indicators) overall it was a fun and economical little car to drive.

We had 3 changes of train to get to Gare de Lyon, but still arrived at 2.05 having said we would be here at 2pm. But it was tiring so John took a break after some late lunch. The tour de France on TV was also an attraction. The apartment is exactly as described except lots more basic food was provided than we expected and free internet. We are on the 4th floor with about 4 other apartments and there is a small lift. This part of the street seems to be mainly residential with about 3 restaurants. I was able to get a load of washing done before we went out for a walk.

We checked out our other possible metro station, Bastille, but decided to walk along the river and take the subway back. We first found a cache in a local park near a canal then watched a boat rise up in the lock . We walked for a couple of hours, just looking. While it was hot in the sun, it was a nice temperature in the shade.

The river front seemed to have more 'free' activities then we remembered and there were lots of people and especially family groups just sitting by the river or also walking. We saw many of the glass topped boats (we have yet to go on one in Paris) and they all seemed very full.

At the side of the river was a BMX track, a number of places for a drink, a swimming pool, an artificial beach, 2 different groups playing music and lots of people. In the river we also saw a couple swimming with some sort of escort boat. The side of the quay had heaps of second hand book stalls, and some were even in English. Near Hotel de Ville there was a big outdoor concert in operation and of course we also had views of Notre Dame as well as the various bridges.

We walked as far as Pont Neuf then John’s legs complained so we stopped for tea. The prices were good as the tax on restaurant meals has been cut significantly to encourage people to eat out. The traffic was continuous in the 3 lanes with lots of buses so we were very happy not to have the car. I read the information on the tourist map and it said ‘Visitors are strongly dissuaded from travelling around Paris by car".

We walked a little further but his legs were still tired so we caught the metro back for a quiet evening. It has been fun ‘people-watching’ out the window while catching up on the news from home on the internet.