Paris

Paris was, as usual great. I stay in an apartment in the 6th, and it is very handy for the metro being served by 4 metro lines and lots of buses. The main aim of the stay was to have peace and quiet to recharge the batteries after a hectic summer, which left me totally exhausted by the end of the extended term, and to do some initial work on my dissertation. I ended up doing a lot of thinking, and had a wonderful time. With no pressure to 'do' touristy things, life was shared between walking, running round the Luxembourg Gardens most mornings, situps [omg, they were awful, I hate them], coffee, more coffee, people watching in the cafes, cinema, shopping, and spending time with Patrick on his way from the South of France to Bruxelles. It rained a bit, which was a shame, but it was significantly warmer than the UK, but Patrick complained how cold it was. I felt dreadful when I did return to the UK, 'cos the temperature plummeted, and it's taken me a week to get used to the reduced temperature - so Patrick must have been freezing as it was 35-40C down south, and then went to 25Cmax! But hey, he had a good time, and went off to Bruxelles with all his laundry done and having had enough showers to last him a few weeks.