Greetings from Paris, France (Day 2 of trip)

Thanks for dinner last night; tonight looks like being a repeat although there's a big room service menu here but it has to be ordered by 1.30 am.

Very, very hot, although aircon working ok; travel accomplished with lots of well paid for help. Too many euroids talking furiously into iPhones and stinkberries on train; they need to have a QUIET carriage for those who have retired. Also usual obnoxious party of well off Queenslanders travelling and telling the world about it at top of their voice.

Hotel ok, my mother took little and better room I was going to take; I'm in bigger (about one third size of St Pancras) room facing street with shower over bath (in spite of emailing and getting a reply that all rooms have separate shower – this is going to be a continuous theme; the euroids don't seem to get that we don't want to have to clamber in and out over bath walls).

Area is ok, off Bvd St Germain not far from Boul Mich intersection; some good bookstores/shops, some of which we visited this afternoon and then had a sweet snack at the cafe in the square in front of the Theatre de l'Odeon (which has an impressively busy and mixed season coming up over the winter (on a big poster hanging down over pillars outside). Sweet snacks very average; location of cafe ok.

Forgot to change 500 euro notes of which I have several before banks closed for weekends; as I pointed out to people in Sydney no one has change for them since most purchases are achieved with a 20 euro note, so there will be an edgy weekend ahead (and a hot one if iPhone weather is anything to go buy; not cool here until Wednesday).

Come over on Wednesday when it gets cooler.

H

...... well it says "Odeon Theatre" on the stonework at the top which I can see by hanging out the window and looking what I think is south westish. In print ie on Google iPad map it's called Odeon Theatre de l'europe, which it,s programme certainly is with German plays, plays from Norway and England and no doubt France as well as I think a French version of a Streetcar Named Desire. Doubt whether I am brave enough to go and see anything and will sit outside at cafe.