Paris

We arrived safely in Paris yesterday......a little weary but managed to stay awake until  7pm last evening.....we did get a little disorientated coming off the RER from the airport...couldn't decide which bank of the Seine we were on......and who helped us find our way?  Unbelievable that, of all the millions in Paris, we should bump into Janet & Dean Strongetharm (Derek's work colleague who is travelling in France as well) ....they had a map book.....which we have now purchased.
We settled into our cute hotel, had a shower and, ended up sitting outdoors, enjoying a couple of drinks, and watching the passers-by on a busy corner near the river ....very entertaining......then went and had some delicious Basque street food.

Weather was sunny and warm but with a cool little wind so needed a sweater later.
We have had absolutely no problem with threatening-looking people....and it is very busy here right now.....on the RER there was a guy with a baby who got on one stop and delivered yellow papers asking for money on all the empty seats...everybody ignored him, he did not speak to anyone, he collected the papers again and got off at the next stop.  Paris doesn't give the feeling of being unsafe although we are in the centre and we are careful with money.  And no one has approached us for anything. 
Today we walked......this morning to Gare de Austerlitz via the Botanical Gardens to pick up our tickets for Saturday's travel then on to the green walkway near the Gare de Lyon and back to the hotel and then towards the Luxembourg Gardens where we had a  mediocre lunch in a restaurant....back to the hotel for a rest after about 11 kms of walking.

One observation......people, even the young people, are not as obsessed with their electronic equipment while walking around or even in cafes etc as Canadians seem to be.

Cafe au lait here is delicious.

Off to do a night cruise of the Seine this evening.......Paris is lovely.