Last night host Tessa had her "bloke " stay over so I did not feel as at ease as I had previously, seemed like a nice chap but they were talking well into the night, this should not be an issue, but with these "conversions" not quite as much privacy as one would like as you can hear everything. Also maybe I was a bit nervous about having to get to St Pancras for the Eurostar, anyway not a good night sleep.
Decided wth Tessa's help may as well get the tube to St Pancras & really very smooth & not an issue, plenty of time to get a coffee & croissant (getting in the mood) at the station. One thing I did not expect is that they do the security border checks at the station, also the French passport control is at the London end....who would have thought? In the end just a train trip.....with a very long tunnel in the middle....which I would have not allowed myself to think about too much if it wasn't for a kid behind asking, "are we under the water yet, are we under the water yet?"
Once at Gare du Nord remembered old metro tickets in my purse, so hopped on metro & with one change was in 17th arrondisement at 8 Rue Villebois Mareuil by 2pm. Then realised I did not have the floor number, but managed to rouse the conscierge who took me up. Now this is how I imagined a parisian apartment to be, very gracious, spacious, the host Carole is really very tres gentile, not sure how many of her kids are here. Got stuff settled then off to see the lay of the land, very close to Arc de Triomphe, walked there & then of course down Champs Elysees, heaving with people. Ended up at Place de la Madeleine & metro from there to Chatelet - right bank.
This took a while & by the time I got back was 6.30pm, so stopped for a cold drink on the corner of Avenue des Ternes & something else. It was good to stop & let the world go by & boy was it going by. In my innocence, once past Arc de Triomphe I imagined the pace slowed down, what a joke, it was frenetic, cars & people all other the place. I did enjoy the people watching however. I stopped at Monoprix for something for tea & headed home. Had a good chat with host Carole over tea. She is early 50s & a dental surgeon, 4 kids. She worked with her husband, another dentist & found out 2 years ago he had been having affairs with the patients!!!! Suffice to say she is now divorced, no longer works with him.... & is in a quandary aout how to move forward with her life. The building is a family building, I think she said that her grandparents built it in 1903, it is in the typical Parisian style, 6 floors, cream, black wrought iron balconies, she is on th 4th floor.
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