Paris Saturday 30th

Having worked on the A380 some years ago, Geoff was very much looking forward to travelling on the Air France sector. We both decided we preferred the seats of the A330!

We walked to the top of a busy, shopping street where we had lunch and each ordered a country salad. It consisted of salad, tomatoes, a lot of jambon and a huge horizontal slice of grilled camembert on top of thin fried potatoes. And the French don't have high cholesterol?! Delicious – the wine helped with the digestion.

We then walked back down the street picking up a baguette and cheese. The fromagerie,

has an enormous range of cheeses and also packages a selection of cheeses on a plate – useful for the tourists. At the supermarket we stocked up on supplies. It was just as well we had three bags with us! We trudged back to the apartment calculating the shortest route.

Then it was out to our booked exhibition at Institute d'Arab on the Orient Express. We left plenty of time to get there which was just as well as we found that metro line 5 was off line for maintenance Ooh quick, which route to take? Line 4 back that-a-way to connect with line 10 to get to the right place.

The exhibition was amazing. Not only were there three carriages complete with period artifacts, in the Institut there was an amazing collection of posters, maps, furniture, china & glassware and memorabilia about the Orient Express.  

window with adjustable ventilator

Rene Lalique decoration

detail of Institut du Monde Arabe