Visitors!

After an aborted first attempt, Russ and Nettie finally made it to Paris for a weekend.
We started off at Madame de Sévigné's house, now a museum, in the Marais and then had a lovely lunch in the dappled shade of the plane trees.





I feel this photo should have a jagged rip down the centre, separating our two friends, with the caption: "Frosty relations in the City of Romance. Is divorce on the menu?".
Nettie was studying the carte and Russ was in touch with a Cabinet Minister.





Then off for a walk around the islands, a boat trip on the Seine and a stroll along the Champs Elysées.
Some people had a snooze before the evening outing .


Next day Russ took us on a walk in the Bois. No, I still don't like it. Roads and paths, traffic islands and a lake that everyone walks around in single file.
But we had mates with us and it was great!

Such a lot to catch up on

This was a walk we did in Paris in April on a day that turned into a scorching hot afternoon.
We have places to go before we leave Paris and Père La Chaise cemetery was one of them. Perhaps because of the summery weather and fresh green leaves, it was absolutely gorgeous. We found Jim Morrison's ugly slab of a memorial, surrounded by metal crush barriers but these old 19th century gravestones reflect more the dignity and atmosphere of the place.


We walked on to the Canal St Martin, which I had high hopes for.
The Amélie bridge area was pretty but as the canal is still being squatted by the homeless of Paris, the pervading smell of urine was heavy in the air . See ! No Canal No. 5 joke.





We took the metro to more familiar ground and went to this favourite café at Palais Royal. This is THE friendly waiter in Paris. Remember his face. He smiles.
Steve had warm Tarte Tatin and I had Fromage frais with rhubarb compote.
The building on the right is the theatre of the Comédie Française. We really should go.





Just behind the waiter's hand is this metro entrance.
Have you ever seen such a jewel-like structure? Just beautiful.
You really should click on this photo to appreciate it..












Then a walk through the Tuileries, passing through the Louvre arches from where you can look down into the inner courtyards of the museum to catch your breath at the sight of this.



And then further on through the gardens, passing the Maillol sculptures, which I had previously ignored, until a drawing lesson in the Musée Maillol, when I had to concentrate on them for three hours and came to appreciate their heft.

Water leak at our house finally resolved

Well, well, well ....... who'd've thought it?

Water Company expert no. 3 turned up today as we haemorrhaged water while, at the same time, not using any. The first thing he checked was ........ if our meter was, in fact, connected to the supply pipe for our house. Ha, ha, ha!

No, it was not.

Was our meter registering the consumption of our ecologically aware neighbours. Or the neighbours with a swimming pool .... WITH A LEAK ?!

Yes, we have paid our water bill in advance for the next 62 years but we intend to get it back.