Tuesday, September 25th, 2018

Took the train from Marseille to Paris today, very civilized over all. 772km, just under 500 miles in about 3.5 hours. We were on time to the minute. I arrived at Gare de Lyon, recharged my Navigo Decouverte pass for the week (23euros, all the metro and bus you can use), and headed to the Odeon metro stop. A quick walk and found the apartment. Small studio perfectly fine, but showing a lack of owner attention in the details. Nothing of great importance, but the main blind doesn’t work, luckily there is an exterior shade, TV cable box doesn’t turn on, suspect dead batteries in the remote, no laundry detergent and other similar minor issues. Fabulous location just off St. Germain and 2 blocks from Odeon metro. I immediately headed over to Cafe Breizh for a GF crepe. Feeling fortified, did the usual shopping, which by now has been almost the same in every city, paper towels, Kleenex, laundry detergent etc. This time I just brought my Jam and butter with me from Marseille. I’m not sure that I’m entitled to feel this way, but coming to Paris feels like coming home for me. I guess my 2 years as a kid here imprinted more than I thought. It’s also nice to be somewhere where the store clerks and waiters inherently understand that time is valuable. The rest of France, nobody is in any hurry to do anything regardless of the number of people in line or any kind of perceived urgency. The other thing is that it is actually cool here, about 60 degrees, so not really cold but very pleasant. I’m looking forward to checking out some less touristy places this week, and will likely not do much on the museum front. As a frequent visitor, I can now skip most of the obligatory tourist stops.