So, here we are back in Paris, where we started from. Seems like the trouble has died down. All quiet on the streets, and Parisiennes are doing what they do best - getting on with life. The bars and cafes are full, the Metro is up and running, people are out and about. Ahhhhhh, Paris.

Sunday morning, late out of bed, casual stroll down the street for some breakfast (espresso and croissant). French croissants, mmmmmmmmmm, no one does ‘em like the French. What to do next? I know, lets go across to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees and see for ourselves the damage done.

Arrived at the Arc, cold and wet. But it does appear that the Avenue is back to normal. Broken windows have been replaced, burned vehicles have been removed, graffiti on the Arc has been cleaned off. Traffic is flowing as normal. A few armed Army personnel can be seen patrolling the street (but they have been present for years now as part of the general increase in security). A few storefronts are still boarded up, but it appears to be business as usual. Finished strolling around the Champs-Elysees we headed over to the other side of Paris to visit Galleries Lafayette, Paris' premier store. Imagine every hi-end fashion label there is and put them all under one roof, that is Galleries Lafayette, Myers on steroids. A visit to Lafayette is worthwhile not just for the shopping, but to visit the store itself. It is a magnificent building and they go all out to deck it out at Xmas time.

Monday, our last day in Paris, and our last day of our trip. One more thing to visit before we leave - the Le Jardin du Luxembourg, a 17th-century park with formally laid-out gardens. On our way to the gardens we came across a young woman having trouble with her rent-a-bike (bike rentals are huge here). It was upside down and looked like she was trying to fix a puncture and not having too much success. Being kind and helpful Aussie tourists we went over to see if she required some help. Turns out she was Australian too, from Sydney. The belt of her coat had become entangled in the cogs of the rear wheel, jamming it tight. We had a bit of a look at it and worked out if slowly rotated the wheel backwards, and carefully, very carefully, tried to dig out the belt with our fingers we might be able to work it free. And worked it free we did. The young lady was most grateful that we got her out of a bit of a bind. We exchanged pleasantries and wished each other a nice day and went our way. Feeling good about ourselves we continued on to the Luxembourg Gardens. Put us in a right good mood for the rest of the day.

Continued on from the gardens up to Saint Germain, one of our other favourite parts of Paris (we have lots of favourite parts of Paris, in fact Paris is our favourite place to be, in case you hadn't already guessed). Saunter through the streets, bit of window shopping at Bon Marche (almost as fancy as Lafayette), lunch at a cosy little cafe (best onion soup ever) then back to the hotel for the rest of the day. Start packing up for our flight out tomorrow.

So ends our trip for this year. A little bit different from previous years - no car this time. Which meant no tolls to pay for, no parking to worry about, no mad dashes across the continent trying to see everything. Instead, this years trip has been a much more relaxed affair. Late sleep-ins. Casual explorations of the cities we have chosen to visit. Standouts for us have been Tallinn, Malta and Cyprus. Places we never would have considered visiting if we were driving.

What have we learned from this years travels?

So, sadly it's time to go home. We fly out from Paris tomorrow, head to Singapore then to Cairns. Overnight in Cairns then back home. We have had a marvellous trip. Seen some really interesting places, got a few tips for next time. Bye for now, see you all when we get back.