Paris, France

The flight was pretty uneventful – just the usual screaming kids (complete with hours of seat kicking from behind), disinterested flight attendants and an assortment of body odours. Charles De Gaul airport was surprisingly efficient and, unlike most times we have come through here, both of our bags arrived (together and on the same day!)

Andre had an extensive and, at times, rather lively political discussion with our cab driver (at a rate so fast that I could barely decipher letters, never mind words!) I think that he is very happy to be back in the grand Motherland.

The room at the Hotel Paris Rivoli was not ready when we arrived so we wandered around the Marais and Village Saint Paul for a while.

Grabbed a quick lunch at Berthillion (a restaurant version of the famous ice cream place). Andre had his mandatory first meal: beef tartare; I had a hearty braised beef cheeks (definite comfort food) followed by a rather disappointing creme brulee.

After a nap we walked around and took a few pictures. I climbed up a fountain in front of the Mairie (city hall) to take a picture of Notre Dame and ripped an embarrassingly located hole in my jeans. (It did provide a nice breeze until I was able pick up a new pair for a mere 4x the cost of what I would pay at home.)

We ate at Hippopotamus, a French steakhouse chain, at the unfashionably early hour of 6:30 pm. (it was odd being the only people in a large, popular restaurant.) After finishing off the lovely bottle of Loire Chenin, we headed back to the hotel to retire early this evening.