Another beautiful day, but now too cold to have the windows down. I had been so lucky with the weather. How long could it last? Oops now I’ve gorn and seddit.
The breakfast was included at the hotel. They had a novel egg boiler that let you lower your own eggs inside a cradle. I put the timer on my phone and went to make some toast. When I came back after five minutes one of my eggs was missing. Now, what kind of person..?!
I settled for one egg but in truth I hate these buffet affairs and tend to avoid them. Everyone being overly polite.
‘After you.’
‘No, after you please.’
‘No, no, no. After you. I insist!’
Gimme a break. And everyone constantly milling around. I just wished everyone would simply sit down and get on with it.
On the road. Beautiful autumnal colours. The grosgrain fields ready for winter planting contasting with the turning leaves. The French roadsigns as usual all reading like a menu. Epoisses followed by Chablis. I mean throw in a baguette and you’d have the makings of a decent supper.
Into Paris and alongside the Seine. The Eiffel Tower on the right. Then across Place de la Concorde and up to La Madelaine and then down underneath her skirts to park in Rue Tronchet car park.
It was this very car park that my friend Nigel had retrieved my Ford Cosworth without a ticket all those year’s ago. He’d talked a good story and drove the car out. Good going because at the time Sapphire Cossies were the most frequently stolen car in Europe. I’d had a job getting the thing insured. I suspect he went for a little tool around in it over the slippery cobbles. So I was glad he hadn’t lost me my no claims.
That afternoon was all glorious sunshine. I did what everyone else was doing and went for an amble. I avoided the Champs Elysees. That was an evening thing. Not sure why. Anyway, instead I turned left at Concorde and walked the length of the Tuileries.
By and by I came to Le Pont des Arts.
I’d got down on my knees here and asked my girlfriend to marry me. G only hesitated for a heartbeat but it was a heart-stopping moment. While I was down there a couple of Japanese girls came and took a photo of us and ran off giggling.
In those days it had scruffy chain link on the sides. And later, couples took to putting padlocks on it until the weight became so great that the chain link was removed and replaced with glass.
But people still found places to put them.
Further on, Notre Dame. Still a work in progress. And would be for some while.
I found one more Mona Lisa for Capt. Gee. This time the original with her firm grip on her chat. Before Leonardo painted over it of course. After all his achievements, what a terrible painting to be remembered for.
That evening it rained hard.
Told you I’d jinxed it.
