Back in Paris

And so to Paris. We got the Eurostar from St Pancras, whisking us through the Channel Tunnel and into the heart of Paris at Gare Du Nord. It seems so strange that the tunnel is now so ordinary (and getting on for twenty years old) when as I was growing up it was a mad idea of Napoleon's that never happened or something that belonged in a world of science fiction. Our hotel in Paris was a short walk away and after settling in we headed out again onto the streets. Firstly down to Republique - a little different from the last time I was there when it was full of protesting farmers. We walked down to the Bastille, familiar territory for me from my 2010 visit. After a sit on the steps of the Opera House we went to find the street where L had stayed when she was in Paris before, over thirty years ago. We tracked it down and took a few pictures, and then bought pastries from the bakery halfway down the street that L had only looked in the window of last time, travelling with next to no money and certainly none to spare for fancy cakes. We took the cakes down to the riverbank and sat there eating them as we looked across to the islands in the middle of the river. Scene of what was the first image I posted on blip - where it all began.
After that we headed back across the river and into the Marais where we bought falafels on the Rue de Rosiers and ate then as we wandered back towards Republique. We stopped in a park and watched children playing table tennis on outdoor tables and had a drink in a cafe overlooking the big statue in the centre of Place de la Republique before heading back to the hotel.
Another backblip from my 'special birthday' weekend.