Paris traffic is at its absolute worst this morning – 90 minutes from CDG airport to the 2nd arrondisement, and a 65 Euro taxi fare. I hate taking taxis, but my suitcase is too heavy to manhandle on and off the airport train. The weather seems to be improving after a cool spell. 19 degrees Celsius today, and 24 degrees tomorrow, with 30 degrees forecast for the weekend. I’m trying out a new apartment – my favourite was sold a few years ago, and whilst the last apartment I tried was nice (in Rue St Roch), it suffered from a ‘European bathroom’, which means a handheld shower nozzle in the bath. Can’t handle kneeling to wash my hair with a bad back! I chose this apartment as it’s still in the same area, but has a shower nozzle attached to the wall over the bath. The bathroom isn’t without its challenges in a building that dates back 150 years. There has been a water leak in a pipe in the apartment below, and the investigations to find the source of the leak have meant that the cistern in the wall is now completely exposed in its frame. Not aesthetically pleasing, but a fascinating insight into the inner walls of a building this old. Other than the occasional whiff of stale water, it’s all bearable.
15 years ago when I first came to Paris, my location of choice was the Left Bank. Over the last decade, I’ve migrated to the Right Bank. Not entirely sure why – proximity of apartment choices to the Metro and RER was probably a factor. But it is quite comforting to return to Paris this year and realise that I’ve been staying in apartments in the same 600 metre radius for a decade now, and navigating the local Monoprix and amenities seems familiar. The apartment, whilst less than 200 metres from the busy Avenue de l’Opera, faces an internal courtyard, and is protected from street noise. It’s proximity to the Seine also means that jumping the river to the Left Bank is also simple.
So this is a view from the apartment over the inner courtyard…home for the next week!
