An Amazing Way to Start the Day - 16th April 2010

Today I began my day in the most amazing way which words can not do justice. But a little happened before that which I’ll mention first!

I woke up at 5 am to the hot water system dripping as it does (which is in a cupboard/void in my bedroom of this 300+ year old building), which was closely followed by the arrival of the workmen outside my window as they set about getting to work on the renovations of the large department store close by ‘Sumaritaine’.

I was pretty much awake anyway so I read for two hours and then it was light enough outside to get up and go for a run. And this is where my day really began. I stepped out the front door and run approximately 30 metres and voila – I’m about to run through the grounds of the Louvre! There, in this prestigious 16th century former royal residence, I run with the biggest smile on my face as the statutes of famous men and women stare down upon me. Wow!! I ran past the Grand Pyramid, through the Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel and half way down the Jardin Des Tuileries and then back again. It was just delightful.

After my run Asha and I re-traced my earlier steps through the Louvre and then we made our way up to Rue Saint-Germain for a coffee, hot chocolate and a Croissant. We were going to go to Le Procope (The oldest Café in Paris), but they don’t do croissants! Following breakfast we walked through the Latin Quarter and shopped. We enjoyed a fresh ham salad baguette for lunch and sat at a bus stop while we ate and watched the world go by, basking in the sun. It was bliss!

We’ve made many discoveries and I’m consolidating my local knowledge and bearings. I’m becoming quite intimate with the streets of inner Paris and can easily navigate my way around. As I write this I’m now sitting in a lovely large Park up from the Louvre, but back a few streets from the Seine. There are some older men playing petanque (boules) in the gravelly ground under the shade of the trees. It’s quite charming. There are also pigeons doing the dance of love around their lady pigeons, but the lady pigeons are not too interested and wander off from the male pigeon advances to see if they can find any breadcrumbs to eat.