Paris

I’ve just got back from Paris, and once again I have to say that there’s just no place like it. The occasion was my son’s participation in the annual Marathon de Paris and again he did himself proud. But one shouldn’t need an excuse to visit Paris. My brother once told me that the thing that appealed about Manhattan was that every building told a story, and that’s true enough, but in Paris this is even more true. I don’t think anywhere makes city life more appealing. This year we finally took a trip on a bateau mouche, and also spent more time in the Latin Quarter, between the Boulevards St Michel and St Germain – a location scandalously neglected from previous visits. The area is  virtually all restaurants and bars, serving anything at any price. And all within a 30-minute metro ride of anywhere in the city. There are no dull areas in Paris.

The next little trip is to our own fair capital city of London, because those nice people at Tesco have given us some vouchers for the Marriott just out of town. I hope that Marriott Hotels realise that consorting with Tesco maybe isn’t in their best interests, but not until after we’ve checked out. I’m still hoping that I can get to the third great western metropolis, New York, before the summer ends.