Nous sommes arrives a Paris

A warm 23*C awaited us in Paris. It was with pleasure that I upended my suitcase & assigned all cool climate clothing to the bottom of my case. Hmmm! The jeans were a bit tight!

Our flight from Manchester to London was a comfortable 35 minutes in the air. Boarding not so. Early boarders had filled the overhead storage with carry-on luggage. A plea for assistance from the staff fell on deaf ears, as did the earlier announcement of, 'one bag in the overhead locker, one under the seat,' it seems. Phil took to returning smaller bags to passengers to satisfy part two of the instruction, thus freeing up space for our backpack & bag. Those boarding after us had to go towards the rear of the plane in search of storage space.

Our transition through Heathrow Airport defied all the negative reports we had been hearing. This morning was an impressively smooth operation. I have high praise for the efficiency we have experienced while passing through this airport. I love siting in terminals just watching the passing parade. Wondering where the travellers have come from & where they are going. Watching the children, most were occupied & well behaved, some sleeping, some testing their parents' patience. It was comforting knowing the latter wasn't my problem & that if it became so I could simply move away. The adults too were interesting. While not able to hear their conversations, most were animated & their expressions happy. Some were reading, some were using phones, some were engaging their children while others were dealing with those not so well behaved, some, like me, we're observing. Perhaps observing the observer! Phil read 'The Great British Summer' by A.M. Hopeful. It began, 'Once upon time . . . . . !'

For our Channel hop we managed to secure exit row seats & having been briefed in emergency procedures, Phil 'practised' that which had been demonstrated. The woman assigned the window seat misunderstood the arm waving & decided she should follow instruction! My 'No!' was clearly understood. This begged the question, why would British Airlines allocate an exit row seat to someone with limited English or an arm waver?

With 216 miles behind us and a watch adjustment of +1 hour, we arrived in Paris. Our transition through immigration was swift, our luggage turned up, the arrival of our pre-booked shuttle bus was prompt & we had checked into our hotel in just sixty-five minutes.

Our accommodation is on Boulevard Malesherbes in the 8th Arrondissement. While having a three star rating, the standard of the hotel is excellent. We have a corner room on the fourth floor that is larger than most we have stayed in during our holiday. It's clean, it's light, it's air conditioned. It has a Juliet balcony that overlooks the St Augustin Cathedral. This is high praise for Paris accommodation.

Two years ago I fell in love with this charmant ville & still she enchants.