Belle Paree!

So the long trip with delays due to a "small typhoon" in Hong Kong which threw all the timetables of all the planes out and ended up, for example, with 25 planes ahead of us all in a queue waiting to take off. But a beautiful trip nonetheless, with business class, extreme comforts, flat bed, space. And because it was our anniversary a special bottle of champagne a bag of chocolate truffles and a card signed by all of the staff including the captain. But it was so very private in the pods we missed eating and chatting and watching the movies together, but it seems like spoilt brats even to bring that up.

Paris, ah Belle Paree! I had forgotten how beautiful, the limestone Belle Epoque buildings so elegant and pretty and grand all at once. We took a hop on hop off boat ride nd saw all of the top sights with the atmosphere of the Seine, with the little barges and boats with people living on them, pots of flowers and all. Of course the muwem attendants were on strike – it is a well known truth of travel that wherever you go it is closed at that time, on that day or something. We couldnt get into LOrangerie at all to see the massive Monets there and I nearly got scammed by a gypsy girl there, who dropped a gold ring beside me, it was probably a pickpocketing attempt.  But the strike did mean that the Musee DOrsay was open but not charging for entrance that day, so it felt like a win actually.

We were stunned mullets by the time we had seen all the Imprssionists and Post-Impressionists there. Fancz a bonnard, a Toulouse-Lautrec, a Guagin, a Van  gogh…..enough our heads were swimming. We kept going to leave then seeing another room crammed with fabulous paintings. But the best of all, Monets, with the lumniouslight. Magnifique !!. We’ll never forget that.

We were happy with our funny little hotel. Name the Little Hotel for good reason. One moment in business class, How may I serve you Mr Ramsay ?. Next minute wearing thongs in the shower and wondering if soap was supplied.

When we read the reviews for the hotel one said "the rooms were small, they smelled of smoke and the man on the front desk was grumpy" I thought – what do you expect, it’s Paris after all. But the little bag of goodies they give you in business class (pomegranate surge lip balm! antioxidant humidimist spray!) came in very handy there when I used the little disposable toothbrush to jam the shower head to stop it swinging round to spray into the back corner of the shower. Voila !