We dragged our suitcases onto the Victoria Line and travelled the one stop to Kings Cross. I’ve gotta say, this tube trip between Highbury & Kings Cross is so fast, and so loud - think metal-on-metal at 80km/hr. I have never liked it. I’m the one sitting there holding my hands over my ears.

At St Pancras, we queued up at Security and Border Control… the queue snaked for 7 rows. The passport officer stamped my passport with a flourish; ‘Welcome to France’ he said! Yay. (We are still on English soil, but technically we are now in Europe. Ha ha.)

The train trip was pleasant and uneventful. We arrived in Paris at around 3pm. Even without a map, we found the right bus to take us very close to our hotel. My sense of direction was a bit upside down, and hubby’s was right-side-up for once!

After we settled in to our room, hubby spontaneously decided to buy tickets to a jazz concert this very night. We walked all the way to the Seine (1.5 km), the full length of the Louvre to buy a map (I can’t believe I left my fantastic Paris map at home!!!) from Smith & Co bookshop up near Place de la Concorde (1.5 km), then back through the Jardin des Tuilieries to the Pont Neuf, our 2012 proposal site, (1.5 km), down Rue Dauphine to Rue de Buci (500 m) for dinner at Atlas restaurant (Steak aux Poivre for me and Blanquette de Veau for hubby + deux verres de vin (Cotes du Rhone, nothing less), then we walked back across the river to the Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club on Rue Lombardes near Chatelet (1 km).

The Jazz quartet (Alto Saxophone, Piano, Double Bass, Drums led by Jim Snidero on Sax) were incroyable. After the concert, we filled up on hot chocolate and managed to find a bus back to our hotel.

We are grateful to our feet for getting us through a magnificent day and a 6 km walk on Paris pavements !!