Our room in the hotel was situated next to the roof top terrace, so we took in the morning air and local city views before heading down to breakfast. There was a temptation for a luxurious lie-in given the big day yesterday and nice hotel room, but we voted the night before to get up and get going as it’s not every day that you get to be a tourist in Paris!

Breakfast was served from 7am and we arrived soon after, for multiple helpings of most of the things on offer. Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for Mo and omelette, crepes and maple syrup for me. And fine coffees for both. Plus the obligatory pastries and a chia seed pot each. Oh, and some fresh melon and cheeses…

An uber met us outside the hotel before the glass electric doors had even finished closing behind us. Super service – and it dropped us outside the door of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre – rather than us getting the metro to the bottom of the hill below it!

It was impressive walking up to the front door, but inside really makes you stop and stare. A work of art and a huge quiet space above a big noisy city. We needed to take a seat to take it all in.

An hour or so later, when we left, we discovered a huge queue to get in, so our early start really had paid off. Back in the taxi and direct to the Arc de Triomphe for the next big thing to see. Mom had found out that it’s possible to climb the stairs inside it to the top and get a view. The only snag, was there’s 284 steps to get up there!

The views from the top were well worth the climb and there are great views across to the Eiffel Tower – our next stop on the tour of the town. We both thought that the tower actually doesn’t look that remarkable – until you get up close, then it’s size really reveals itself! It’s massive!

Due to the heatwave, visitors had been asked to stay away and advance tickets were not being sold. We were happy to sit on a bench in the gardens below it and marvel from there, while munching on some fruit and cake.

Although it was hot, we chose to walk back along the riverside rather than take another taxi. The route took us past all sorts of amazing buildings, including the Grand and Petit Palace, which given more time we’d have liked to have looked in. After missing our target cafe, we almost got too hot and hungry, but were saved by a friendly crepe cafe, where we took shelter from the sun and got some sustenance in the form of a cheese and ham crepe.

Next stop was the Lourve Museum. We didn’t go inside and didn’t need to – there was so much to see from outside.

Our tour guide on the boat last night told us that if you looked around the museum and spent 6 seconds looking at every artifact, you’d need a week, non-stop to see everything inside!

Before heading back to the station, we returned down to the waters edge to enjoy a final celebratory drink by the Seine.

Our itinerary had marked out which Metro station to go to to get back but we decided to enjoy the river views for a little while longer, before jumping in our new preferred mode of travel – an Uber! This took us back to the hotel to pick up our overnight bag and then we walked together up to the station.

It was pretty busy inside the Gare du Nord, but we followed signs past the queues to reach the executive lounge, which was an oasis of cool and calm. After being offered a glass of wine and a nice view of the station, we noticed there was a separate private cocktail bar. Once the next train left, the lounge thinned out so we went down to investigate and found a very friendly bar tender who offered us some drinks. I tried a ‘French Quarter’ while Mom opted for a ‘Vesper’ which was billed as ‘packing a bit of a punch’ – and did! The guy then made us a few more cocktails ‘off the menu’ to match our tastes. Luckily (or unluckily?), we had to eventually go and catch a train before we’d tried them all!

The lift out of the lounge, dropped us straight onto the platform, where our train to London was about to depart. Once again, champagne was served on departure from France and we cheers each other to celebrate a fine adventure before dinner was served!

After the comfort, food and more drinks on the train, we emerged onto the platform in London at 21:30ish and soon found that the allotted 15 minutes that I’d planned, wasn’t going to be enough to catch the 21:45 to Kettering. We scurried as fast as possible, but arrived at an empty platform. After a brief sob story and tale of miscommunications at customer service, I was awarded two complimentary tickets for the next train and told that this was a ‘one off’ as I had an elderly lady with me! Elderly or not, we were on our way and with no extra charge! A taxi was waiting for us at Kettering station and we arrived back at Fort Martin just before 23:00, where the itinerary had scheduled ‘have a nice cup of tea’. We opted for a nightcap in the ‘Mediterranean Zone’ in the garden, instead, and toasted Dad in his absence with a glass of his Cherry Brandy to round off the experience.

A fabulous adventure indeed….