Last week we took advantage of a very special offer which came our way through what used to be Driveline but which is now AA Getaways. We had three nights B&B in a hotel in Paris and return Eurostar trip for £99/head. This was very much the headline price and as soon as we booked we were asked if we realised that the hotel was a loooong way from the centre of Paris. I knew where it was and was very happy with the location. Hotel Sovereign is located on the banks of the Seine on the St. Ouen/ St. Denis border. With a 20 min walk to the nearest metro station and another 20mins on the train to the city centre, it may not suit everyone.
It does benefit from the views over the river.
By night
or day,
the view from our bedroom
was enjoyable.
We tend to use the buses as there is more to see than stuck underground being pestered by east European beggars on the metro.
We did experience a new technique whilst viewing the Pont des Arts on Thursday morning. A young lady approaching us stopped and picked up a wedding ring from the ground in front of us, and after a little banter, offered it to us. This was the pre-cursor to asking for money for food. She appeared quite honest and our initial reactions reflected this belief but we soon became suspicious when she said she could not sell the ring because she was not French. As we walked through the Tuilleries gardens a little later an altogether less honest looking guy found an identical ring immediately in front of us. What a co-incidence. French men must be very careless dropping so many wedding rings in such a small area.
Hi Margaret & Peter, you may remember me, i was with my husband and two friends on the Waverley. Exactly the same thing happened to me in Paris, a young lady picked a ring up in front of us and then tried to sell it to us, i suppose there are so many people visiting Paris that they could get away with it for years!
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you both, Rosie
Hello Rosie
ReplyDeleteGlad you get to read the blog. Hope you enjoy it.
Yes we remember you. Did you read my piece on th Waverley?
We enjoyed the trip immensely.
We have just used some air miles and spent a week in Cyprus which was very different from Paris - the people are so much more friendly.
Peter
Hello Peter & Margaret,
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough the same thing happened twice to me in Paris when I was doing some research for my latest novel, Rue Amelie, (ISBN 9780 9547 15076)which as you know, is set in Paris. One of the chaps actually fitted the ring onto my finger but was utterly nonplussed by my unselfish insistence that HE take it to the police station to claim the reward and not me. Did you notice also that they always present the ring to you, held horizontally so that your eye naturally falls on the fake hallmark engraved on the inside?
Unfortunately for my two 'annular accosters' I had recently read a magazine of 1889 which gave useful information for those persons intending to visit the Grande Exposition of Paris of the same year. Apparently, gentleman had to be wary of an honest working type who would approach them with a gold pocket watch in his hands and insist that he had seen it fall from the gentleman's pocket. After some discussions the gentleman would take the watch and give the man a reward thinking to himself that he had gained a valuable watch. Later, of course, he would discover that it was worth far less than the reward that he had doled out.
Plus ca change, as the French say.
Martin. (famous author)
Hello Famous Author
ReplyDeleteI do not usually accept advertising and to establish some balance here feel you should mention the first novel in the Paris Trilogy, viz, The Chinese Transfer (ISBN 9780 9547 1502)