60th Birthday celebrations

The day began with birthday salutations for Patrine - we meandered down the street to have coffee and croissants at a small place and then returned to our apartment to meet 'the boys' who were about to make preparations for the party. They thoughtfully brought some of the most delicious croissants that I have ever eaten - so fully carb loaded we headed off for the day......
The tripsters went via hop on hop off to the lovely Notre Dame.  We very easily met up with Patrine and the kids and then spent the next couple of hours wandering through the very beautiful church.  There was a service on which meant that while there were hundreds of people in the church, it was remarkably quiet and peaceful.  We sat a while and listened to the service and then went to light candles.  All of us had some special thoughts, moments and reflections - such a special place.

After photos and candles we decided to wander down to find somewhere for lunch...
We spent an hour or so looking through souvenirs  shops and then went a bit further for lunch.  We had some lovely fare at Quasimodo's (funny eh) and then finally made our way to the river (over the little bridge) to catch the batobus.  The next couple of hours we sat and oooohed and ahhhed over (well actually under) the bridges and saw many of the iconic places we have become familiar with over the last couple of days, from a completely different angle.  We were delighted to get very close to the Tower.
With the party looming we decided to get off and return home via the Metro.  We managed to get a little confused and ended up finally striking the a metro at St Michele's.  A quick skip and a jump (and 1 thousand stairs) and we were home.

The boys had been working so hard in the house creating a magnificent party atmosphere for when we got home.  We where amazed.  Soon after arriving home people started to get here - and a wonderful surprise for Patrine - guests from Adelaide that she was not expecting.....
there were about 18 of us in all - sitting around in the 3rd eating and drinking - the photos do not do it justice.
Such a delightful day.
PS thanks to you who have sent us posts, it is really great to hear from you  :-)