Our B&B in Caen was very nice. When we went down to breakfast the owner had classical music playing and candles burning! It was still snowing, so we had to brave the slippery roads again, and sure enough, the first turn we made saw us sliding uncontrollably! We headed for the shopping area, tried out a few shoe shops and eventually found a tiny shop in a back street where Natasha got some boots and some slip-ons (des ballérines). We also went into a clothes shop where she got a skirt and some trousers. After lunch we trudged back through the snow to the car, found the railway station, dropped off the rental car and got on the train to Paris.
After our last experience of arriving in Paris with our bags, we decided to get a taxi this time. Our self-contained apartment is in a narrow street near Boulevard St-Germain, on the 5th floor. Fortunately it has a lift. It is only big enough for one person and a bag, or two people who know each other very well, and has a wonderful sign on the door:
Today dawned still and fine, so we decided to do the Eiffel Tower experience. Once again, the Paris Metro system let us down, and by the time we got near, it was lunch-time. After spaghetti and pizza we dodged the hawkers and joined the hour-long queue. Janet chose not to go up and nearly froze to death at ground level, whereas the rest of us nearly froze to death 200m up!
In a desperate effort to ward off hypothermia we then took an hour-long cruise up the Seine. It was a good thing to do, as there was quite a good commentary, and there were not many people on the boat.
Unfortunately, the five minute walk to the Metro station afterwards froze us to the core again!
So here we are, all four of us at CYBERCUBE, as we are staying somewhere with no internet access. All our other commercial accommodation so far has had free wi-fi.
We have just noted with interest that Wellington is expecting 22 degrees today.
