I love Paris in the summer, when it sizzles...

Kate - One day anywhere in the world...

Oh this one is easy...or is it?

When I think of going anywhere in the world for a day my mind returns to the holiday Sam and I took to London, Paris, Venice and Rome two years ago. This was my first trip overseas (not including New Zealand, sorry if this causes offence...). I have to say that staying on the Ile Saint-Louis with Sam, I fell in love again...with him, with Parisians, with Art, with coffee, with shopping, with the Eiffel tower at night...I fell in love with Paris.

I would return to our little bedsit, complete with cheese man and chocolate croissants just downstairs. I recall our delicious coffee shop just on the corner and the red wine and cheese feasts by the Seine each night at sunset... just divine.

My perfect day would start with a chocolate croissant and coffee, then a long walk down the Seine to an Art Gallery. My favourite gallery we would visit would be the Musee-de l'Orangerie to see the eight magnificent Water Lilies by Claude Monet, which on first view brought us both to tears...such beauty and perfection. We would sit quietly for a while, breathing in the water swirls. Then lunch in a little place we stumble over, more Art in the afternoon (Musee Rodin), then shopping back on our little Ile Saint-Louis.

Dinner of cheese, baguette and red wine consumed on the banks on the Seine, then a ice cream dessert from the gelato shop on the corner.

More foie gras on baguette with sweet wine to end a perfect day back in our little apartment. I must add this trip would be all the sweeter by our squealing, squeaking, raspberry blowing Hannah. She would love the sunsets and look with awe at everything...just as she does now in our little Waitara apartment. Sometimes the magic and beauty of Paris can be found in a babies gaze at just about anything!

Ahhh Paris, I love you in the springtime, I love you in the fall, I love you in the summer...