Birthday Bling & a few of My Favourite Things

How lucky am I to wake up in Paris on my birthday? Even luckier when Chris sources the still-warm croissants from the local bakery and a few little madeleines to really start the day off right!

The birthday watch hunt ramped up into top gear today (what with it being my birthday and all). It is possible we were the first customers of this reasonably upmarket vintage watch seller to arrive on lime scooters, but the sales lady barely raised an eyebrow, and she popped my purchase into a bag that could hang over my scooter handle as we headed back out to the streets.

The reality of Paris is that it is now really the only way to get anywhere in this city- most streets have been made one way, having created dedicated bike and scooter lanes. Adding to the complexity is the people of France are not happy. Not about the bike lanes, but about the age of retirement increasing. They are marching on the streets in huge numbers, and this is leading to even more road closures and interruptions to the metro lines.

Chris and I remembered the riots from the last time we were here and admire the French spirit, even if it is a little scary in its all mob mentality glory. These last few days, we haven’t seen anything violent, but the police presence is huge, and we are becoming immune to the sound of sirens they are so constant.

Lunch at le Train Bleu

Lunch was very sentimental. We were meant to visit here in 2020, and due to Covid, it never happened. In the depths of our Melbourne winter lockdowns, Chris presented me with a birthday gift of a voucher to Le Train Bleu - this amazing restaurant in Paris. It was truly a gift of hope as I remember at that time being so scared of what our world was going to be with this horrible pandemic, and the voucher suggested maybe it will all be ok. So not to speak too soon, but it is feeling ok, and we got to cash it in today!