Paris: working holiday

We were in Paris for a working holiday - mainly for me to work on a chapter of my thesis (which I completed - yay), and for Steve to make some contacts for a new project he is working on.  We did get to do some fun touristy things for breaks, which was great, but mostly it was work.

Paris was FREEZING cold when we were there - it actually snowed on us when we were out one day.  We walked a LOT, and that warmed us up (most of the time) and it was lovely to see all the different neighbourhoods.

We climbed the Arc de Triumph to watch the "sunset" - not much of a sunset, but it was beautiful to watch the lights come on.  

CNES is the French Space Agency

Steve and I had an enjoyable morning there talking about the future of space ethics, in particular military space ethics.

There were a lot of buskers around which was fun - this was a piano acordion on the train.  I was surprised to see a lot more homeless people this time - it seems that the economic crisis has hit some people very hard here.

We visited the Musee de Orsay one afternoon and loved getting the opportunity to watch them restoring one of the larger paintings - it was absolutely fascinating to watch.  It seems to be very slow meticulous work.  We also visited the Orangerie Museum, and LOVED just sitting and admiring Monet's work :-)

When I was in Athens I started this scarf (with Addi, who also started a circular scarf).  It rolled quite a bit, so I turned it in to a tubular circular scarf - it kept me nice and warm and toasty in freezing Paris.

This Bakery had the most AMAZING bread - the line went around the block just to get in the store, but it was worth the wait. I'm not supposed to be eating grains (or sugar), so "cough", don't tell my doctor - the diet will start properly when I get to the UK.

The Strada Cafe served great coffee, plus fed us and kept us with free wifi - for when we got cabin fever from working in the apartment :-)

Editing is hard no matter where you do it.

YES - a little happy dance for finishing the chapter

We had a lot of problems with the apartment we were staying in, and in fact a lot of problems with the Airbnb host.  This is me after I have walked on this grate, and it has flipped (it wasn't secured) and I've fallen into the hole with disgusting (hopefully only dish washing) water in it.  My foot and ankle hurt for several days after this.  We've had a friend have problems with Airbnb, and a family member - after this experience I don't think we would rent through them again - there just isn't someone to help if there is a problem - a reputable real estate agent or online holiday rental agency is much more reliable.  If you are thinking about staying with Airbnb, just be very wary - this website gives you ideas of what to look out for - airbnbhell.com