Six hundred and sixty-nine ...

... that's how many steps there are from the ground to the second level of the Eiffel Tower. How do I know? I walked them! That's right ... it almost kill me (well, that's probably being a little dramatic) but I got there! I had to ... otherwise it was like a four hour wait to get the one lift that was working on the day I was there - the others were offline due to technical difficulties apparently.

Paris was a nice city to visit. I don't think I was swept up into the hype like others say they have. Maybe it's just that I've been travellling for so long and I'm all tourist-ed-out. I don't know. There were many beautiful things to see. I can see how it's a city for romantics - there were couples kissing and canoodling left, right and centre - and being a single lad it was something i didn't really get to appreciate. Anyway, I'm sure if i went there with someone special it would be a different story! haha

Of course, no trip to Paris is complete with a visit to the Moulin Rouge. I went to the 11pm show on the Friday night. The minute the first set of bare breasts waltzed on to the stage I thought of a funny line from an episode of Family Guy - Peter Griffin asks "What's the difference between art and pornography?" with the answer being "A government grant". I thought perhaps a different response could be "the amount you're willing to pay" haha. The show was enjoyable (not just the partial nudity! haha) with singing (although) I think most of it was lip synced, dancing, acrobatics and other performances.

Here's some pics:

They say that this bridge is famous with couples. If you put a padlock on the bridge and throw the key into the river below then nothing will come between you. There are a lot of padlocks on the bridge!

The massive storm that rolled over on the last day