:: zut alors

Doesn't time fly, etc. Here we are on our last day in Paris, already! Well, not quite our last - we come back for one night before flying to London.

The undoubted highlight was the Segway tour: man that was so much fun! It's a machine designed to make you look like a pure dork, but in fact they are great to ride. To go forward you just lean forward - and suddenly you're gliding along with a very quiet hum. Lean back and you stop, and then go backwards. Twist the little control and you spin round on the spot.

There were nine of us on the tour, I think, plus the two guides. First we did some training, then we headed off down the street. Not only was it cool fun riding the things, but it was lots of fun watching people's reactions. Mostly it was gob-smacked amazement, amusement and envy: what is that thing? Where can I get one? There was a little bit of scorn, but not much, considering what idiots we looked. Pinky and I were great at marketing the Segway, passing out brochures and urging everyone to take a tour.

The guides were a hoot too: the firm that does the tours is based in Texas, and most of its employees are young Texan dudes. (There was a bumper sticker in the office saying "Texas is bigger than France".) I say "dudes" because they all talked exactly like Bob and Ted, and their sense of history was pretty Bob and Ted too. The French Revolution was like, awesome? They like, cut the king's head totally off? Right here where we're standing? They were such cute guides though. Explaining that the Louvre was originally a fort built to protect the city against the Vikings, Daniela said: "Before I came here I didn't even realise the Vikings like, actually existed? But they did, and they were like, totally hassling the Pareeshuns?" Dude.

We've also been to the Pere Lachaise cemetary (where I fell over and cut my hand, wah!), Sacre Coeure and Montmartre, Musee d'Orsay (pinky), Arc de Triomphe (me) and have eaten huge quantities of excellent french bread and cheese, and plenty of cakes. Pinky has bought TWO handbags, really classy ones.

We're off to Bordeaux on the train tomorrow, then heading out into the French countryside in a hired voiture. We may or may not go to Spain; we'll see how we feel. Then back to Paris on 10 October and to London on the 11th.

It's been lovely having this flat, we will really miss it. It's on Rue de Seine in St Germaine des Pres, quite a snooty and artistic area - lots of galleries and chic shops - but also interesting and quirky.