Friday was taken up with packing, travelling to Paris on the Eurostar and finding our way to our Paris AirB&B. This all went very smoothly but we were glad we had allowed plenty of time to navigate to and through St Pancras International Station. Being a Friday there was a huge crowd for the train heading for a weekend in Paris so it took time to navigate through the security checks.
We had estimated that we would get to our apartment by about 5_30 if we were successful at navigating the Paris underground and finding the address which was close to the Metro station. We were spot on which was fortunate as our host had to wait outside to take us into the apartment. He was very pleased that we were prompt. The apartment is very well located within central Paris and is part of a huge old block of 24. Entry is via huge heavy wooden doors, through two rception areas and a pretty courtyard to our adjacent ground floor home. It is really comfortable though definately vintage. It has been well maintained and has all mod cons. We even watched some French TV last night night comentating on the Ryder Cup golf tournament between the USA and Europe. The focus on Tiger Woods was huge showing history clips and comparing his previous game with the game he was playing which was not a good day. Since the USA lost the pressure on him must have been intense.
Yesterday was housework as we had to find a laundromat. This was easily accoumplished with the help of Google Maps on Bob's phone. We used the time while the wash to churning to explore the side street area and found a restaurant to try for dinner. There are plenty around the square where the apartment is located but they tend to be very tourist focused with mediocre food to offset the higher rents.
We then set off to reaquaint ourselves with the Monmarte area and Sacre Couer Cathedral. It was a beautiful day and we climbed up the hill to take our photos but once again avoided the long queue to enter the Cathedral. We then ambled down to Pigale. Here we found a boulongerie (bakery)) for bagettes and quiche for lunch and ate in the park.
The metro ride home required one transfer which was an undergound hike but easily accomplished. Back to the apartment we put our feet up for a while. My cold is mild compared to the one Bob has survived but it is still nice to have a rest and refresh before dinner. By then we decided that despite the beautiful day the apartment was decidedly cool. Our host Yvon had pointed out how the central heating was linked to the huge gas hot water heater in the kitchen and mimed that it could be turned on if we were cold. Since Bob, the mechanic couldn't work out how to do this we eventually used Bob's mobile to access a translation app and then copied it into my mobile to text Yvon. There is probably a way to do this within one phone but our techno creds don't rank that high. We then went off to a pleasant dinner knowing that when we arrived home a hot shower and a warm doona would get us through the night. About an hour later the phone rang with Yvon's perfect but inexplicable French rattling at me. We finally realised that he had sent us text instructions but we hadn't heard the reply message arrive. Bob was about to get into the shower so was dressed only in his skin but Yvon was obviously so anxious to know it was sorted that we stood there translating the message and discovered the small box in the passage that our host had forgotten to point out. Once the dial was turned that system started warming and we could compose a short text to reassure our him.
And so to bed in preparation for another day in Paris.
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