Sat at airport all day. What more can be said!
(Had to check out of apartment at 10 and flight not till 3.25 so plenty of reading time.)
Duly arrived in Munich around 5.30 and found a place to have dinner round the corner. Language and attitude more demanding here than Paris. We decided to try the local wiener schnitzel and I was glad I asked for the small version. It still covered the entire plate. Very good though - what we could manage to get through.
Still no schnee! And not even particularly cold.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Monday, 16 December 2013
Monday, 16th December, 2013
Today's focus was not on sightseeing but on finding some affordable (€3 each - I think not!) postcards for the little ones and maybe a pretty little Parisian dress each for the girls - and something for the boys, of course.
So after a slow start to the morning we walked down to Forum Les Halles advertised as a major shopping centre albeit still undergoing renovation. As it happened we might as well not have bothered. A funny place a bit like a very upmarket underground Wynyard but only half finished. Most of the shops were adult clothing though Rick will be glad to know a McDonalds was nestled among them. So nothing there that we were looking for.
We emerged back up above ground and after a warming cafe, wandered along Rue Montmartre where we came across a "Petit Bateau" shop (designer children's and baby wear). There were some stunning little outfits there that I would have loved to have bought but spending in excess of $100 for a dress that a child might wear three times before growing out of seems a bit excessive. A pity because they were lovely. We will keep looking.
So the morning dispensed with, it was time for the central focus of the day. This time we chose a little place -Au Comptoir du Commerce - just a minutes walk from our apartment and it turned out to be the best so far. A fitting finish to out Paris sojourn.
Tomorrow will be a tedious day of travelling with a long wait at the airport.
We shall miss our little pied a terre (is that tautology?) in Paris. We are becoming quite at home in our neighbourhood here!
So after a slow start to the morning we walked down to Forum Les Halles advertised as a major shopping centre albeit still undergoing renovation. As it happened we might as well not have bothered. A funny place a bit like a very upmarket underground Wynyard but only half finished. Most of the shops were adult clothing though Rick will be glad to know a McDonalds was nestled among them. So nothing there that we were looking for.
We emerged back up above ground and after a warming cafe, wandered along Rue Montmartre where we came across a "Petit Bateau" shop (designer children's and baby wear). There were some stunning little outfits there that I would have loved to have bought but spending in excess of $100 for a dress that a child might wear three times before growing out of seems a bit excessive. A pity because they were lovely. We will keep looking.
So the morning dispensed with, it was time for the central focus of the day. This time we chose a little place -Au Comptoir du Commerce - just a minutes walk from our apartment and it turned out to be the best so far. A fitting finish to out Paris sojourn.
Tomorrow will be a tedious day of travelling with a long wait at the airport.
We shall miss our little pied a terre (is that tautology?) in Paris. We are becoming quite at home in our neighbourhood here!
Sunday, 15 December 2013
Sunday 15th December, 2013
Very little worth writing about today. We did get up early but headed off in a different direction from the church so missed any organ music. Once again everything was deserted early in the morning as we headed back to the vicinity of the Opera to pick up another touristy bus with interesting commentary. This one took us to Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. We had toyed with the idea of getting off there but by that time the queues and crowds were massive and anyway we were frozen to our seats so it would have been hard to move. The commentary was actually very interesting and we found a lot of the history of Paris quite fascinating.
One of the advantages of sitting upstairs (and in the front seat) on those buses is that you can see over the heads of the people on the street below so we were treated to some excellent views of the Christmas windows of Au Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. They are very beautiful and the crowds in front of each window were huge of course. Decided to avoid shops.
The other Christmassy thing that caught our attention (last night) was the ice skating rink meandering among the trees, at the Concorde end of the markets on the Champs Elysée. With all the twinkle lights and skaters gliding by it was quite beautiful.
Back home around midday after the bus drive, the main focus of the day was, of course, lunch.
We decided to try a place recommended in our apartment guidebook as quintessentially Parisian and not to be missed. It was a bit of a hike but we enjoyed the walk and found it quite easily - a huge place already jam-packed with people and already turning people away. No doubt this is an indication of really good food but when we were almost ordered to hurry up as we followed the waiter and were shown to two seats in the back at a table for four already occupied by a couple of large elderly men, we changed our minds. At that stage we decided ambience was just as important as food and left. There was also a niggling memory of an article about French restaurants we had read which suggested the beautiful people are always given the front seats (to make the restaurant look good) and the old/ugly guests hidden away at the back. We didn't really want to dwell on this too much so made our way back to the lively and friendly local environment of Rue Montorgueil and randomly chose a place called Au Rocher du Cancale which turned out to be extremely pleasant, if unremarkable food wise. I do wish Rick had never pointed out the ubiquitous menu item, Cafe Gourmand. Not being a great coffee drinker I had always ignored it until I learned it is a mini degustastion of three little desserts. Thinking of which, another good long walk is probably called for!
One of the advantages of sitting upstairs (and in the front seat) on those buses is that you can see over the heads of the people on the street below so we were treated to some excellent views of the Christmas windows of Au Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. They are very beautiful and the crowds in front of each window were huge of course. Decided to avoid shops.
The other Christmassy thing that caught our attention (last night) was the ice skating rink meandering among the trees, at the Concorde end of the markets on the Champs Elysée. With all the twinkle lights and skaters gliding by it was quite beautiful.
Back home around midday after the bus drive, the main focus of the day was, of course, lunch.
We decided to try a place recommended in our apartment guidebook as quintessentially Parisian and not to be missed. It was a bit of a hike but we enjoyed the walk and found it quite easily - a huge place already jam-packed with people and already turning people away. No doubt this is an indication of really good food but when we were almost ordered to hurry up as we followed the waiter and were shown to two seats in the back at a table for four already occupied by a couple of large elderly men, we changed our minds. At that stage we decided ambience was just as important as food and left. There was also a niggling memory of an article about French restaurants we had read which suggested the beautiful people are always given the front seats (to make the restaurant look good) and the old/ugly guests hidden away at the back. We didn't really want to dwell on this too much so made our way back to the lively and friendly local environment of Rue Montorgueil and randomly chose a place called Au Rocher du Cancale which turned out to be extremely pleasant, if unremarkable food wise. I do wish Rick had never pointed out the ubiquitous menu item, Cafe Gourmand. Not being a great coffee drinker I had always ignored it until I learned it is a mini degustastion of three little desserts. Thinking of which, another good long walk is probably called for!
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Saturday 14th Dec 2013
Firstly, a very happy birthday to all those who turn 34 today. We hope you're having a very enjoyable day.
We decided to set out a little earlier than previously today and discovered that Parisiens like to sleep late on Saturdays. Compared to most mornings when we have ventured out, the place was empty.
Our first excitement of the day was a sudden recollection of Caroline's performance in the Ascham musical set in Paris titled Les Petits Rats. We set off to catch the Metro from the nearby station Sentier. The platform was fairly deserted and then I noticed something moving just a few metres away - a real live Parisian rat! Needless to say we moved rather hastily to the other end of the platform. Rodents aside, Sentier is a good little station to have nearby as it is only a couple of stops to Opera from which many places can be reached.
We emerged from the Metro in front of the Opera House where nearly 50 years ago I attended a very grand ball. I still have pictures of it somewhere back in Bathurst.
We spent the morning on one of those hop on hop off buses. Very touristy but you do get a very good encapsulated view of the city. With the interests of our audience in mind, we subjected ourselves to the Arctic temperatures of the open air deck upstairs to enable easy photo taking. Being the first on board also meant we got the front seats with uninterrupted views. It was worth it but boy, was it cold. I was very glad of my thick jacket, gloves and funny hat and Geoff regarded his scarf as a lifesaving device.
The bus covered quite a lot of the city and the commentary was interesting. We enjoyed the section up the Champs Elysée from Place de la Concorde as all the Christmas markets were in full swing and all the decorations in place. We plan to return this evening when it is dark to see the lights. All very pretty with customised Christmas themed stalls so everything matches.
An early stop near the Louvre.
We're looking forward to this evening's excursion. Very adventurous for us but only about 10 minutes on the Metro.
The round trip took a couple of hours and by the time we arrived back at the Opera we were frozen. Luckily it only took about 10 minutes to get home and dethaw a bit before venturing out again to find something to eat. This time we tried we walked to the other (top?) end of Rue Montorgueil and ended up at a place called Grappe d'Or.
Nice but nothing outstanding, but very pleasant sitting by the window in the warmth watching the, by now, swarming street life and also watching the guy outside smoking nonstop while shucking fresh oysters for customers.
As we emerged from the cafe after lunch there was a cry of "ah, les kiwis" (and I thought we were Australiens?) from up the street. It was our long-bearded friend from the restaurant yesterday riding his bike through the crowds. So he stopped for a chat and a photo (I only had my camera with me at the time so you'll have to wait for that one till we get back to Australia) before peddling off again.
We continued wandering - down the Rue du Louvre as I needed some good shoes and had noticed a nice shop while walking that way the first day, then we skirted round La Bourse and so into the church of Saint-Eustache where it was suggested we admire the magnificent pipe organ. One of the church's officials spied us going in and, having ascertained we were Australians and spoke English, gave us all the appropriate brochures so we could read all about the church's history which actually turned out to be most interesting. One of the chapels houses the tomb of Colbert (1683), finance minister in his time, who lived in the house in which we're staying.
A little later: We now know why there were no people around this morning. They were all saving their energy for a visit to the Christmas Markets tonight.
Even our local rodent station was packed with people and we just managed to squeeze onto the Metro but from Concorde station up the Champs Elysée there were just thousands and thousands of people. The crowds were so dense it was almost impossible to move but the lights and decorations were well worth going out to see. We managed to go about a block up the street before deciding we'd had enough of the crowds and heading home to our little apartment.
If we make it out the door in time, we plan to go and enjoy the music at Saint Eustache at the early morning service tomorrow.
And now a few photos which, if I had had more time I might have tidied up a bit. But they are not too bad.
A good view but very cold - the scarf was an essential accessory!
As Bill would have said: "get an eyeful of that!"
Les Invalides
We decided to set out a little earlier than previously today and discovered that Parisiens like to sleep late on Saturdays. Compared to most mornings when we have ventured out, the place was empty.
Our first excitement of the day was a sudden recollection of Caroline's performance in the Ascham musical set in Paris titled Les Petits Rats. We set off to catch the Metro from the nearby station Sentier. The platform was fairly deserted and then I noticed something moving just a few metres away - a real live Parisian rat! Needless to say we moved rather hastily to the other end of the platform. Rodents aside, Sentier is a good little station to have nearby as it is only a couple of stops to Opera from which many places can be reached.
We emerged from the Metro in front of the Opera House where nearly 50 years ago I attended a very grand ball. I still have pictures of it somewhere back in Bathurst.
We spent the morning on one of those hop on hop off buses. Very touristy but you do get a very good encapsulated view of the city. With the interests of our audience in mind, we subjected ourselves to the Arctic temperatures of the open air deck upstairs to enable easy photo taking. Being the first on board also meant we got the front seats with uninterrupted views. It was worth it but boy, was it cold. I was very glad of my thick jacket, gloves and funny hat and Geoff regarded his scarf as a lifesaving device.
The bus covered quite a lot of the city and the commentary was interesting. We enjoyed the section up the Champs Elysée from Place de la Concorde as all the Christmas markets were in full swing and all the decorations in place. We plan to return this evening when it is dark to see the lights. All very pretty with customised Christmas themed stalls so everything matches.
We're looking forward to this evening's excursion. Very adventurous for us but only about 10 minutes on the Metro.
The round trip took a couple of hours and by the time we arrived back at the Opera we were frozen. Luckily it only took about 10 minutes to get home and dethaw a bit before venturing out again to find something to eat. This time we tried we walked to the other (top?) end of Rue Montorgueil and ended up at a place called Grappe d'Or.
Nice but nothing outstanding, but very pleasant sitting by the window in the warmth watching the, by now, swarming street life and also watching the guy outside smoking nonstop while shucking fresh oysters for customers.
As we emerged from the cafe after lunch there was a cry of "ah, les kiwis" (and I thought we were Australiens?) from up the street. It was our long-bearded friend from the restaurant yesterday riding his bike through the crowds. So he stopped for a chat and a photo (I only had my camera with me at the time so you'll have to wait for that one till we get back to Australia) before peddling off again.
We continued wandering - down the Rue du Louvre as I needed some good shoes and had noticed a nice shop while walking that way the first day, then we skirted round La Bourse and so into the church of Saint-Eustache where it was suggested we admire the magnificent pipe organ. One of the church's officials spied us going in and, having ascertained we were Australians and spoke English, gave us all the appropriate brochures so we could read all about the church's history which actually turned out to be most interesting. One of the chapels houses the tomb of Colbert (1683), finance minister in his time, who lived in the house in which we're staying.
A little later: We now know why there were no people around this morning. They were all saving their energy for a visit to the Christmas Markets tonight.
Even our local rodent station was packed with people and we just managed to squeeze onto the Metro but from Concorde station up the Champs Elysée there were just thousands and thousands of people. The crowds were so dense it was almost impossible to move but the lights and decorations were well worth going out to see. We managed to go about a block up the street before deciding we'd had enough of the crowds and heading home to our little apartment.
If we make it out the door in time, we plan to go and enjoy the music at Saint Eustache at the early morning service tomorrow.
And now a few photos which, if I had had more time I might have tidied up a bit. But they are not too bad.
Home, warm home.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Friday, 13th December, 2013
So, Black Friday - but another nice day in Paris.
I have taken on board the criticisms about lack of paragraphing (easy to fix) and lack of photos. Photos not so easy as have been using the camera and can't transfer them to the tablet which I am using till back home. But tomorrow we're planning a less strenuous day so will take the tablet and use it for photos. It has been invaluable for daily planning and maps plus a great app that gives directions for using the metro and RER.
It was invaluable today as we decided to use our tickets and trek out to Versailles.
You get a false sense of security in the apartment and stepping outside in the cold is a shock! Still, we have plenty of warm clothes so just rug up outside and peel off layers in the overheated indoors.
So we set off relatively early and walked down Rue Montorgueil to the Les Halles Metro. Had to change a couple of times which proved challenging, particularly at Chatelet Les Halles which is vast and confusing, but eventually arrived as planned at Versailles along with a million other people. Would hate to be visiting in high season.
It was a five minute walk to the palace and no queues to get in so set out on the standard walk through tourist route to the royal apartments and theSalon of Mirrors. All very impressive but after room after over the top room you began to understand why the peasants revolted. Let them eat cake indeed!
After a couple of hours Geoff began exhibiting his inner-French leanings, ie planning the where and what of the next meal!
We decided it was probably more enjoyable to head back to our own territory first and after very, very nearly catching the wrong train we made it back to familiar territory, perplexed, nonetheless, that it required one less section on the train.
By now it was nearly 2 and a bit worrying as many places close at 2 and I was keen to try a place recommended by the people we had booked through called Le Cochon a L'Oreille (not sure if this has something to do with silk purses and sow's ears, but whatever).
It was, as we had been warned, tiny, and was very full, and very noisy. There were four or five other people waiting but people were leaving and despite Geoff's grumpiness at having to wait it was only about five minutes before they found us a (miniscule) table.
As it happened it was well worth the wait. There was a small blackboard menu with a choice of about five entrees and five mains for a very reasonable 15 Euros for two courses. Wine came by the bottle - left at the table and charged by what you drank.. The food was totally different from what we expected but totally delicious and by the time we finished the bistro had closed and all the family were wandering in for their meals including an elderly guy with a long white beard who looked like a bit of a derelict.
It turned he was probably the owner and the father of all the staff in the place (though we had thought him the grandpere). He came over for a chat and, having discovered we were Australians, roared downstairs for his daughter Juliette the chef to come up and chat to us as she had spent a year in Australia.
So she duly came up and turned out to be a very sweet girl and we were fed complimentary cognacs while we chatted, so quite a fun dining experience and afternoon that was quite unexpected.
What I didn't know about yesterday's lunch till I read up a bit more last night, was the place we went yesterday - L'Escargot - is quite famous and has been patronised by the likes of Marcel Proust, Salvador Dali, Sacha Guitry and Jackie Kennedy. So maybe we can dispense with a visit to Les Deux Magots!
But given a choice I'd go back to today's place. It was 'much funner' (to quote some people from the past!)
I have taken on board the criticisms about lack of paragraphing (easy to fix) and lack of photos. Photos not so easy as have been using the camera and can't transfer them to the tablet which I am using till back home. But tomorrow we're planning a less strenuous day so will take the tablet and use it for photos. It has been invaluable for daily planning and maps plus a great app that gives directions for using the metro and RER.
It was invaluable today as we decided to use our tickets and trek out to Versailles.
You get a false sense of security in the apartment and stepping outside in the cold is a shock! Still, we have plenty of warm clothes so just rug up outside and peel off layers in the overheated indoors.
So we set off relatively early and walked down Rue Montorgueil to the Les Halles Metro. Had to change a couple of times which proved challenging, particularly at Chatelet Les Halles which is vast and confusing, but eventually arrived as planned at Versailles along with a million other people. Would hate to be visiting in high season.
It was a five minute walk to the palace and no queues to get in so set out on the standard walk through tourist route to the royal apartments and theSalon of Mirrors. All very impressive but after room after over the top room you began to understand why the peasants revolted. Let them eat cake indeed!
After a couple of hours Geoff began exhibiting his inner-French leanings, ie planning the where and what of the next meal!
We decided it was probably more enjoyable to head back to our own territory first and after very, very nearly catching the wrong train we made it back to familiar territory, perplexed, nonetheless, that it required one less section on the train.
By now it was nearly 2 and a bit worrying as many places close at 2 and I was keen to try a place recommended by the people we had booked through called Le Cochon a L'Oreille (not sure if this has something to do with silk purses and sow's ears, but whatever).
It was, as we had been warned, tiny, and was very full, and very noisy. There were four or five other people waiting but people were leaving and despite Geoff's grumpiness at having to wait it was only about five minutes before they found us a (miniscule) table.
As it happened it was well worth the wait. There was a small blackboard menu with a choice of about five entrees and five mains for a very reasonable 15 Euros for two courses. Wine came by the bottle - left at the table and charged by what you drank.. The food was totally different from what we expected but totally delicious and by the time we finished the bistro had closed and all the family were wandering in for their meals including an elderly guy with a long white beard who looked like a bit of a derelict.
It turned he was probably the owner and the father of all the staff in the place (though we had thought him the grandpere). He came over for a chat and, having discovered we were Australians, roared downstairs for his daughter Juliette the chef to come up and chat to us as she had spent a year in Australia.
So she duly came up and turned out to be a very sweet girl and we were fed complimentary cognacs while we chatted, so quite a fun dining experience and afternoon that was quite unexpected.
What I didn't know about yesterday's lunch till I read up a bit more last night, was the place we went yesterday - L'Escargot - is quite famous and has been patronised by the likes of Marcel Proust, Salvador Dali, Sacha Guitry and Jackie Kennedy. So maybe we can dispense with a visit to Les Deux Magots!
But given a choice I'd go back to today's place. It was 'much funner' (to quote some people from the past!)
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Thursday, Dec 12, 2013
Surprisingly we managed to sleep until nearly 8am, so hopefully jet lag won't be an ongoing problem.
With a little help from Google maps we decided we could probably walk everywhere we wanted to go today and so set off just before 10 in the direction of the Louvre. Our pre-purchased tickets promised queue-less entry if we went in by the Richelieu portal which we duly did but being earlyish on a cold morning the queues were negligible anyway. Once inside we had to get rid of coats, hats, scarves and gloves as it was heavily heated. We duly admired the requisite number of Da Vinci's, Botticelli's, Carraveggios etc and eventually found ourselves in front of the somewhat underwhelming Mona Lisa and amused ourselves by wondering if it was in fact the original. Then wandered back through the Italian section where the subject matter seemed to be either all gloomy religious stuff or naked bacchanalian orgies. Still the colour and detail was oppressive.
Freed from the demands of centuries old artwork, we re-traced our steps across the frosty Louvre forecourt and wandered along the riverfront for a while. We kept being accosted by very annoying girls who grabbed at us and tried to force us to sign some petition or other. They were equal only to the Egyptian touts at the Pyramids in their persistence.
Eventually we found ourselves on Ile de la Cite and fortuitously right outside La Sainte Chapelle. As we happened to have a book of tickets that gives entry to all kinds of places, and even better as there were no queues we were able to wander in and spend some time admiring the truly magnificent stained glass windows. I hadn't remembered the Church being on two levels and it wasn't until we had climbed the ubiquitous spiral staircase that we could really appreciate the windows and, particularly, the famous Rose window.
By this stage it was well past lunchtime so we decided to head towards home and find something to eat on the way.
We eventually wound up at a place recommended in our apartment guide, a place called L'Escargot just around the corner. We decided to forgo the snails but had some very good fish instead. A nice treat after a long walk.
So now it's back to studying maps to sort out tomorrow's excursion - possibly a trip to Versailles.
With a little help from Google maps we decided we could probably walk everywhere we wanted to go today and so set off just before 10 in the direction of the Louvre. Our pre-purchased tickets promised queue-less entry if we went in by the Richelieu portal which we duly did but being earlyish on a cold morning the queues were negligible anyway. Once inside we had to get rid of coats, hats, scarves and gloves as it was heavily heated. We duly admired the requisite number of Da Vinci's, Botticelli's, Carraveggios etc and eventually found ourselves in front of the somewhat underwhelming Mona Lisa and amused ourselves by wondering if it was in fact the original. Then wandered back through the Italian section where the subject matter seemed to be either all gloomy religious stuff or naked bacchanalian orgies. Still the colour and detail was oppressive.
Freed from the demands of centuries old artwork, we re-traced our steps across the frosty Louvre forecourt and wandered along the riverfront for a while. We kept being accosted by very annoying girls who grabbed at us and tried to force us to sign some petition or other. They were equal only to the Egyptian touts at the Pyramids in their persistence.
Eventually we found ourselves on Ile de la Cite and fortuitously right outside La Sainte Chapelle. As we happened to have a book of tickets that gives entry to all kinds of places, and even better as there were no queues we were able to wander in and spend some time admiring the truly magnificent stained glass windows. I hadn't remembered the Church being on two levels and it wasn't until we had climbed the ubiquitous spiral staircase that we could really appreciate the windows and, particularly, the famous Rose window.
By this stage it was well past lunchtime so we decided to head towards home and find something to eat on the way.
We eventually wound up at a place recommended in our apartment guide, a place called L'Escargot just around the corner. We decided to forgo the snails but had some very good fish instead. A nice treat after a long walk.
So now it's back to studying maps to sort out tomorrow's excursion - possibly a trip to Versailles.
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
wed 11 dec 2013 - Paris
It took a while but we have made it as far as Paris. It's cold but the sun is shining and it is perfect walking weather.
The trip got off to an inauspicious start when, as usual, I got pulled aside for a random explosives test. Anyone less likely ..... but I suppose it is politically correct to target a n older white anglo-saxon female rather than a young male of middle eastern appearance.Anywayf or some reason this time the test proved positive setting off alarms and things ..So the security officer who was obviously in training had to race off and find supervisors then they had to redo the body scan thing again and again till it gave two negative readings (which, obviously, it did.) So we finally got through security and eventually made it onto the plane for the long flight - made even longer by the fact it went via Helsinki. Anyway it all went as scheduled and we duly arrived in Paris at the scheduled time and were very pleased to find, when we rang the agent, that although it was only 10am the apartment was free and we could go straight to it rather than having to wait till 2pm. Paris taxi drivers are obviously a bit like Sydney ones - didn't have a clue where he was going till we pointed it out in his map book for him, but we eventually got here. The lady from the agency was waiting to let us in and show us what was needed which was good. It is a very nice little place - small, but then most Parisian apartments are and this is smaller than Manly which is saying something. But it's nice overlooking an internal courtyard in a building where Louis XIV's finance minister or some such, once lived. It is also very well situated (22 Rue Sainte-Sauveur) a minutes walk from myriad restaurants, bistrots, boulangeries, fromageries, markets, supermarkets and so on.So having had a reviving shower we did the obvious and wandered out to find some lunch. After that we walked as far as Les Halles, admired the flying buttresses on the church of Sainte Eustache and did a little grocery shopping.I suspect tonight might be an early night as jet lag sets in.
The trip got off to an inauspicious start when, as usual, I got pulled aside for a random explosives test. Anyone less likely ..... but I suppose it is politically correct to target a n older white anglo-saxon female rather than a young male of middle eastern appearance.Anywayf or some reason this time the test proved positive setting off alarms and things ..So the security officer who was obviously in training had to race off and find supervisors then they had to redo the body scan thing again and again till it gave two negative readings (which, obviously, it did.) So we finally got through security and eventually made it onto the plane for the long flight - made even longer by the fact it went via Helsinki. Anyway it all went as scheduled and we duly arrived in Paris at the scheduled time and were very pleased to find, when we rang the agent, that although it was only 10am the apartment was free and we could go straight to it rather than having to wait till 2pm. Paris taxi drivers are obviously a bit like Sydney ones - didn't have a clue where he was going till we pointed it out in his map book for him, but we eventually got here. The lady from the agency was waiting to let us in and show us what was needed which was good. It is a very nice little place - small, but then most Parisian apartments are and this is smaller than Manly which is saying something. But it's nice overlooking an internal courtyard in a building where Louis XIV's finance minister or some such, once lived. It is also very well situated (22 Rue Sainte-Sauveur) a minutes walk from myriad restaurants, bistrots, boulangeries, fromageries, markets, supermarkets and so on.So having had a reviving shower we did the obvious and wandered out to find some lunch. After that we walked as far as Les Halles, admired the flying buttresses on the church of Sainte Eustache and did a little grocery shopping.I suspect tonight might be an early night as jet lag sets in.
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