Il fait froid...

...mais le soleil brille! I am blogging in our Paris hotel, the Artus, on rue de Buci in St Germain de Pres. It is a nice wee hotel in a great location, with cafes and restaurants all around. We took a taxi from Porte Maillot so that we could see a bit of Paris on the way, and the taxi driver took us round the Arc de Triomphe roundabout (hair-raising!) on the way and then right along the Champs Élysées. Once we had checked into our hotel we went straight back out for a walk, because although it is cold, the sky was blue and we wanted to make the most of the daylight, as it was now mid-afternoon. We stopped at a pharmacy to buy some paracetamol; Heather wanted the generic drug rather than a brand and I was thinking how best to explain this when she just said "generique" which was exactly the right term! So much for my language skills! We went on a lovely walk to the Seine, crossed the river to the Louvre then walked to the Pont Neuf and crossed the river again to the Ile de la Cite before making our way through the Latin Quarter back to our hotel. We stopped on our way at the Pub St Germain for a drink, it was nice and cosy. Later we had dinner at Aux Charpentiers, recommended by our concierge Sanjay. We had asked him to book something reasonably priced and typically French, and it was just what we were looking for. We all had a great meal; James, Heather and I had steaks - beautifully cooked and served simply with fried potatoes - and Ewan chose a Limousin menu that was very rustic and interesting, with duck in a buckwheat pancake and then sausage and cabbage. The waiters and waitress were all very friendly and helpful. We then went for a nightcap to La Rhumerie, which James thought had something to do with catching a cold (la rhume!) but it turned out to be a bar devoted to rum! We all had cocktails; Heather's was the most interesting because it was rum with fresh passion fruit on the side, it looked really cool. It has been such a lovely evening and I have loved the bars and restaurant, it all feels very Parisian! But now I am going to head for bed because I am so tired that I can hardly stay awake!