The hotel offers complementary valet service to board the Eurostar, which leaves from the adjacent St Pancras station.  We’re glad we decided to use it. The station was very busy, especially the train to Paris. There were passport checks both to leave and for France. Without help we would have spent a lot of time figuring out where to go. 

The comfort of the train ride was reduced by two fussy babies near us, but we got breakfast.

We were offered a taxi booking once we arrived. In Paris. Another thing we were glad we did because the queue for taxis was long. We are staying at a small apartment in the Marais, very close to Centre Pompidou

Lunch at Grand Coeur,, without Inge and Robin, unfortunately.

The restaurant is housed in a building with dance and music studios. They provided some interesting entertainment. I left wanting to take flamenco lessons.

Our walk to the Musée L’Orangerie was in some very warm sunshine. We soon were walking under the trees.

I read Ross King’s book Mad Enchantment about Monet creating the water lily paintings as a legacy project in the last years of his life  and about the idea to use the L’Orangerie  as a museum. It’s very impressive to see the works in person.

Some more walking after

We stopped at a cheese shopped owned by a Japanese woman, Salon du Fromage Hisada.  Shop employee started talking to me in Japanese; I answered in French; she switched to English. Humph.

Dinner  at Ellsworth, a small sharing plates place.

I can’t get the map apps I have on my phone to work when I don’t have wifi so we’re navigating by memory and guess. We got lost on our way home and walked a lot longer than expected.  We will have tired feet tomorrow.