PARIS !!

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And so, inevitably, for a couple of days in Paris. We arrived on Saturday evening, and stayed until Tuesday morning.

Quite an eventful arrival actually. Our usual hotel on the edge of the Marais district, the Sévigné, has undergone a major refurbishment which included a change of name - now the Hotel Émile. We've stayed there a few times before, and as usual made an on-line booking for 3 nights, way back in April. On our arrival . . . rien!! No sign of a reservation, and house full. The management looked after us though - found us a room in a more expensive hotel across the street, put us up for the final two nights, and deducted the additional cost of the first night from our final account.

I guess one of the highlights of this visit was a performance by the Opéra Nationale de Paris of Offenbach's 'Les Contes de Hoffmann', at Opera Bastille! On Monday evening. It was the first time we'd seen a performance in that theatre. Not nearly as gorgeous and grand as the Palais Garnier of course, but a brilliant performance space, and this was an excellent production with wonderful performances by all. And loads of legroom - not always the case in Paris theatres.

The rest of our visit was spent, as one does, by picnicking in the park, shopping, taking coffee or other refreshments and watching the world go by at cafes, or just strolling with the rest of them!

Tuesday morning - time to move on and collect the nice new Peugeot that is to be our transportation for the next three weeks, setting out on our next leg - to the Loire valley.

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Photos

View from our window
Hotel Émile

Lunch - Jardin des Tuiléries
Look - no wine!