Rainy days and Sundays

Today we wake up to cold, cloudy day with light drizzle. Cold is about 5^oC. Not inspiring so we take it slowly and catch up with emails, blogs and research. We head out for lunch around 1.30 pm and try a local eatery which is always crowded called Sud. We are lucky to get one of the last tables as they check if there is a reservation with priority. The food is good (Chicken targine) and arrives quickly. The wine never arrives after ordering 3 times. The bill never arrives after polite hand signals, si vous plait, l'addition and the like probably 5 times and after 20 minutes I put my coat on go to the counter and complain to the guy in charge. Many apologies.....we wont go back. Pity it had a lot going for it, and it's hard to find places open on Sundays.

Sundays are a bit problematic in Paris. Most shops and many restaurants are closed, while the museums are packed.

After lunch we catch the Metro to St Sébastien-Froissart to explore the Marais. This is one of the few areas of Paris where shops and restaurants generally stay open on Sundays. It is also main Jewish precinct in Paris. Nous marchons Rue Vieille du Temple, Rue des Fils de Perle, Rue des Francs Bourgeois and have tea and Grog (warm wine) at Place des Vosges.

Now after 5pm we catch a Metro to Gare de Nord to test out the RER train service to Charles de Guille airport . Its a bit hard to find a booth selling Les Billets and we discover the machine we try doesn't like any of our cartes de crédit. The express train outbound lives up to the promise of 25 minutes. The return takes 1h5m to Gare de Nord and continuing on to San Michel and using the system to get us back home makes it more than 1h30m. The shuttle bus, while more expensive seems like a better option, or even a cab out of peak hour.

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