An apartment in the Marais

As I've already said, we're happy with the apartment.  No, 28 sq metres isn't enormous, but the layout is fine.  That's not to say we haven't had a small number of "challenges".   The first issue was to re-set the TV, which was not programmed to connect with the cable TV box.   However, when that was done, the issue became which channel to watch.  There are over 180, including Armenia 1, Channel One Russia, Shanghai Dragon TV and Tele Congo.  But nothing from Australia.

View from our window

On our first night, we decided to eat in.  We had pasta, which was really good due to a combination of Sue's skills and the high quality ingredients that you get here.  However, the hotplates were a challenge.   Now, I've heard of induction hotplates, but it took a while to work out that that's what we had and that they don't function unless a saucepan is actually placed on them.

The shower controls are a little complex, but we've experienced this type of thing before.  Hence, it wasn't too much of an effort to get it to an appropriate setting.

Dinner venue (next morning!)

The Marais district has much to offer.  We had dinner down the street last night.  Sue's duck was better than the dish she had recently at Chez Olivier in Greville St!  There are literally hundreds of bars and restaurants, and on a warm spring evening they were doing very good business.  Most people like to sit outside, and tables in the open are rapidly snapped up.  We ended up sitting just inside.

There's a very mixed crowd on the streets.   There are some tourists, some of whom make themselves very obvious!   But there aren't too many people struggling with French with help of a guide book or speaking in loud North American accents, which I construe as meaning that the crowd is mainly locally based.  There are a few bars that are quite obviously patronised by the gay community (including one immediately under our apartment).    The Jewish influence seems to be lessening, however.

Boutiques (and shrubbery) in rue Rosiers

   We walked down Rue Rosiers after dinner and my impression was that there seemed to be slightly fewer Jewish restaurants and shops than I remember from just a few years back.  Certainly there seem to be more upmarket boutiques than I thought there were!