Of all the gin joints in all the world...

Dear Marmite

Dairy Farm reunited! Yes, unbelievable as it might seem, Arshi and family met up with me last night for a most wonderful meal after we had exhausted all the possibilities of a having kebab in a restaurant and not on the street. That is another little story to be told, isn't it Arshi?

You must remember Arshi if only for the fact that you scared him just by lying on the floor and looking at him. What powers you have!

I decided the Moulin Rouge landmark was an easy place to find and meet so I told Arshi to look for a lady eating gloves and he found me! The area also has a large choice of French restaurants - but I now realise,  no kebab places! So we walked a fair distance before plumping for a rather special little place in Rue de Londres near Saint Lazare.

This wasn't quite a Casablanca moment as we had been planning this meet up but it was nice to be with old familar faces. Amara is an amazing little bundle and considering the weather is so so different from home, I think she took the swaddling in layers and layers of wrapping  to keep out the rain and the cold really well and she was impeccably behaved in the restaurant.

Earlier in the day, I had my hair cut in Pigalle - the weather was too wet to really be wandering and my hair had reached the Coco-the-Clown stage where it freely parted in the middle and stuck out. It seemed to me the ideal moment. Simon S you would be proud of me shedding my "Woolheaded-ness". After that I did Boulevard Haussman - the posh bit  - and with a rather chic haircut I felt well at home here.

Then I wandered onto Place de la Concorde. There were lots of cars there and I thought perhaps I should have plumped for one of these on show rather the white one I have chosen in the UK. Too late now to prevaricate. Deed done.

I had lunch near the Sorbonne and headed back to my hotel to dry out. All in all quite a day. There is plenty left for another visit and on the Casablanca theme - we'll always have Paris!

Eurostar... I'm on my way...

Wish you could have spent the day with m, Marms. You might have got wet but you would have had a lovely long walk. The weather, I must say did nothing to alleviate my cold. My nose is still on champion form.

Still missing you,

Love from half way round the world

XXX