Sunday in Paris

A really cold day today…no rain, but cloudy and mostly single figure temperatures. I wore all my layers, but walked with a spring in my step…quite invigorating! We emerged seeking breakfast and found today was the Paris marathon!! More than 70,000 people running through the city, via all the famous landmarks…great for us, as many roads closed off which is great for pedestrians - no cars - though getting on the other side of the runners can be a problem…like trying to get through the traffic in Cairo!!

So we didn’t have a specific plan for the morning, just walked along to the Tuileries, then popped into shops when we needed a thaw from the cold! Wandered into UniQlo, always fun, and Galeries Lafayette in the food hall where we bought and ate a baguette ham sandwich.

Our only commitment was a tour of the Opera Garnier at 2pm. This is the original, traditional building in Place de l’Opera, and we have never seen inside. The newer, modern Bastille Opera seems to be the main venue for opera (where we saw Rigoletto last visit) so were excited to view the interior of this older rather majestic building. We went to our favourite café nearby, l’Entracte, for a warm up and drink - hot chocolate for me and wine for Amr - till 2pm. The tour was excellent…actually seeing the interior was the amazing part, totally OTT decorated, built for people to socialise - to see be seen - in the late 1800s - the opera then was secondary! Sort of beautiful, but a bit over ornate for me…the round ceiling painting was replaced by Chagall rather than repairing the original…a bit out of sync with the rest of the decor, but rather good!

Then we walked all the way back - clocked up about 14 kms today - and got back to the hotel to meet Carole and John!! Great to meet up…we went to a very noisy bar for a drink (Le Tiny Cafe) which Amr had been curious to try, then on to a slightly quieter bistro for a meal. All good, and fairly early as of course C and J are totally jet lagged just off the plane with a 9 hour time change, but holding up fine. Tomorrow is John’s 80th birthday!! Such fun.Read more