Amelia's 21st birthday and hanging out as family

Cheers!

Today is the actual day. Mel and Ali shot down to get croissants and fruit and we made a beautiful platter with all sorts of yummy treats. Bubbles, coffee and hot choc. Yum! Then it was present time, and some brilliant ideas - a lot of thought had gone into it.

It is Mel's last day, so wrapped up and headed out. 

Today we walked around Ile St Louis, the smallest, oldest, most expensive real estate island. Then over onto Ile de la Cite and a good look all round Note Dame. Home for Mel to grab a bite of lunch, some birthday cake for all, then Mel was off to catch her Eurostar.
Amelia expressed a preference for a boat trip on the Seine, so wrapped up again and walked to Pont Neuf, where we took a French style cruise rather than the huge tourist boats that do 8 languages. Left at 4.15 for about an hour, of course we were outside up front just by the 'beware of the waves' sign. 
Pretty darn cold! Beautiful sights though, and well worth the €14. I just adore Paris, and enjoyed seeing it again from this different perspective. We were freezing when we disembarked so went straight to a café for hot chocs while we watched the sun go down and all the Paris lights come up. Christmas is near, and street decorations are appearing.

Hot choc, wine, time to thaw out!

Home along rue de Rivoli, window shopping, stopping to buy little bits.
Choice of food tonight was pizza, so we ate at our little Italian restaurant next door, menu was in Italian with French subtitles, another challenge!
Home for some games, then Crys and Ali headed out to another jazz gig, Paul to bed, Amelia and I played internet puzzles.
Full day, birthday to remember. Amelia, just loved spending it with you, love you to bits.