There’s been some foreign adventures.

Easter weekend in Paris on my own was liberating, although after a day or two, I started to feel as if my throat was getting rusty and I couldn’t enunciate properly anymore. It didn’t help, of course, that I didn’t speak any French and was therefore relegated to observation-only, rather than being involved in any exciting conversation.

My hotel was on the rue lepic, on Montmartre just up the road from Pigalle and on the same stretch as the café de deux moulins (i.e. where Amélie worked in that eponymous film). Montmartre was beautiful, and I loved how a 5 minute walk transported me into a completely different world where the swarming hordes of tourists vanished and I could peek into windows watching artisans doing antique furniture restoration and painters and sculptors in their workshops.

Of course I did all the touristy things as well - Tour Eiffel, Louvre, Jardin des Tuilieries etc. But half-way up the Champs-Elysees I got bored and turned my back on the Arc de Triomphe. I could see it from where I was, but I lost all interest in seeing it up close, so I went to have a café crème instead. Jim Morrison’s grave at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise was similarly disappointing - I was more excited that I’d chanced upon Balzac than the cheesy circus that was Jim Morrison’s.

And obviously, all the best patisseries and cafés were to be found on the back streets, hidden away from the main boulevards and tourist attractions, through doors that stick and with menus written on the chalkboard behind the counter. And the tiny bars filled with parisians, huddled around tiny tables drinking wine and beer and sharing hunks of bread and pate, cold meats and cheese served on wooden platters resembling a chopping board.

Next time I go (yes, I’m already planning a next time), I’m going to try the credit-card-operated bicycle rental scheme, and also do some clothes shopping. Thinking back now, I was ill-prepared to confront the boutiques of le Marais, but now that I’ve got some experience of the area and of the stores, I know exactly which brands I like and where they are. So now the plan is to start budgeting for those 100% cashmere jumpers by Zadig et Voltaire and the linen-and-silk dresses by Ba&Sh.