Paris Adventure Begins

So we have arrived in Paris for a 7 week sojourn. The weather is cold and sleety and we have to adjust to a 30 degree drop in temperature. Our first challenge is to get to our apartment and Hugh did not want to get a taxi as he hates taxis apparently and cajoled me with tales of how much fun it will be on the train! Needless to say the trains were not working on that day which we discover after buying the tickets, so we have to work our way back to a bus stop and then clamber on board a crowded bus with our luggage and then drag it down many steps when we finally reach another train station to get to Paris - I have to say my love for my husband wavered a bit for a moment or two! However at last we reached our stop and were met by Gilles who owns our apartment and who walked us to it. It is an adorable hobbit-like place yet one has to be careful not to drop the soap in the shower as it is tricky to pick it up without banging your head! Nevertheless it is very comfortable with lots of shops and restaurants and most importantly a yummy boulangerie nearby. I had forgotten how good French bread is. We braved the cold to walk to the Institute Henri Poincare where Hugh will be working but soon fled the elements to a cafe for coffee and a crepe - we felt very Parisian as a result.

 

After much sleep and plenty of good French wine, I was ready to tackle Paris and bought a navigo card so I can zoom about Paris on buses and metros quite cheaply. I decided to make for the Louvre which I plan to visit once a week and just look at one section as you can easily get museum fatigue in that place. So after a restorative cafe and brioche, I began with the Egyptian antiquities, which although it is not full of mummies like the British museum, it is more interesting to me as it has lots of unusual objects like rolls of linen, wooden utensils and other very fragile objects that are quite rare. Just as I was getting Museum fatigue,the sun came out and I decided to take advantage of this and walk along the Seine to Notre-Dame. This picture is me on the Pont Neuf which despite it's name is the oldest bridge in Paris and has lovely views of the ille-de-cite.

 I had a lovely wander around the little squares and buildings until I reached the Cathedral which is a nice gloomy place with the famous rose windows which sparkled on cue in the weak winter sunlight. After lunch I decided to hop on some buses and just travel around getting my bearings - I travelled along the Rue de Rivoli and saw the Louvre, the Palais Royale and went past the spectacular Opera Garnier. Then I changed buses for a trip past the Bastille and then home. Later we met up with some students of Hugh's lab who are here also and had much fun drinking and chatting in a bar near the Pantheon - it is a very hard life!