It’s a balmy winters morning in Paris. Up early again, to be greeted by outside temperature of 0 degrees Celsius. Not that bad until the wind hits. As a Sunday morning, it’s another good opportunity to be out and about while the city sleeps in.
The ice rink has recently (in the last fortnight or so) opened in the square in front of the Hotel de Ville. About the only time you’ll see it empty is early in the morning, or when the guy is out on his machine resurfacing it. Otherwise, it’s bedlam (as it’s free other than skate hire), as it is by 3pm.
Over at Le Bon Marche, the windows are dark as the store is closed on a Sunday, so this years Christmas windows from Le Bon Marche feature a cute presentation of letters to Pere Noel, and some lovely Chanel bags.
A special mention to the nearby The Conran Shop, which always gives good window:
A quick dash across town to Place du Tetre to pick up a painting – today I’m crazy enough to take the stairs from Abbesses and I think I may have coughed up part of a lung.
Then back to apartment to wait for the plumber – who’s apparently arriving on a Sunday. He eventually arrives just before 1pm (he said 12-1pm, so he’s ‘on time’) and we spend 90 minutes contemplating the water dripping from the ceiling in the bathroom. The neighbour upstairs eventually decides to co-operate (turns out he’s an illegal sub-letter), and the plumber is able to work out that both the pipe from the toilet AND the shower in the apartment are leaking. Today’s solution is a bucket under the light near the vanity, and to leave the toilet seat up, as the other leak is helpfully dripping straight into the toilet. No doubt there will be another thrilling installment at some point this week.
It’s turned into a beautifully clear afternoon in Paris, still hovering around zero or minus 1 Celsius. It’s a perfect afternoon to wander from the Marais over to the Left Bank. After a few minutes with my nose pressed against the (thankfully closed) Jerome Dreyfuss store on Rue Jacob, a meander along this street lets me choose curtain fabric for the apartment I don’t have in Paris.
I end up as far as Pont l’Alma, with some obligatory views of the Eiffel Tower as the sun sets for the day, on the way to an overnight low of -5 degrees Celsius! A massive day of walking – covering 17.50km, earns me a bus ride back to the Hotel de Ville, where it’s only a 5 min walk to the apartment.
