Day 1 Thursday 26th January 2023 – Hotel Design
Back at the hotel. I had missed the 3 pm opening for check-in and was now third in the queue. My big surprise was having to choose what time I wanted to have breakfast. My options were limited as a large group had booked the 8am to 8:30 am slot. I settled for 7:30am for each day that I was staying. After all this checking in and double checking it was 3:30 pm by the time I was in my room.
The room overlooked the interior quadrangle of the building which promised a quiet night sleep. I struggled to find plugs and just like Prague the Wi-Fi codes would come via the TV.
This is where the fun began as the TV wouldn’t work. Someone came from the front desk and then went again. He did give me a temporary password and promised to call their IT support company to try to get the TV fixed.
I had unpacked and had my feet up when he arrived back with a key for another room. It seemed that the TV needed more work than he could fix.
My new room was on the fifth floor, and I had to make several journeys with my things as re-packing would have been a step too far.
On the plus side this new room had a view of the Pantheon and was opposite the Sorbonne. On the negative side the room was now over a very busy road below.
A bigger room and lots of easily accessible sockets – worth the hassle of a move!
Day 1 Thursday 26th January 2023 – Evening in the 5th Arrondisement
At 5 pm, I was finally back out and looking for the restaurant, Les Descartes, where Valerie had arranged for everyone to meet for dinner at 7 pm on Friday.
Passing by the Pantheon tents were set up over the steam outlets on the pavements.
On the way back I called at the remainder store and bought a bottle of red wine and bars of chocolate. It was very busy and full of interesting bargains but I limited myself to treats…
I took my purchases back to my room and picked up a wine glass too.
Day 1 Thursday 26th January 2023 – Dinner in the 5th Arrondisement
Then it was time to go out and eat. There are lots of places on Rue Soufflot (ignoring McDs and Burger King!)
One of the restaurants I’d been to three years before was closed and now was being rebuilt. I chose the easy option and walked further up the road towards the Pantheon.
I went to the another restaurant that last visit had been TexMex and now it was an Italian restaurant. There I enjoyed a French IPA with my ham pizza.
I was sitting close by the window so I could see Rue Soufflot and observe the night life.
After backing up my iPhone pictures it was time for a rest, set alarms for an early breakfast and read a book.