Last week

London - Angel, Elia Street and Belsize Park, Haverstock Hill

A whirlwind work trip took me back to my old city for a short but fulfilling weekend. Meeting up with old friends at our old local, the Charles Lamb Pub, having some dirty burger grub at Hache@Camden, crazy Saturday night bowling at the All Stars on the grubby streets of Brick Lane to celebrate Xiansta's 30th, a rainy queue in Soho for a cosy evening in Koya, coffee+ice cream at my favourite Gelup, and an old repeated visit to the Pain Quotidien to see pipi, and off on that old channel train, the eurostar. Very much like the old weekends, it didn't feel too long ago.

Paris - District 15

Then it was off to Paris for a week of work. Autumn is a lot warmer on the Continent, and alot crisper. I stayed in a hotel with the smallest lift in the world, walked each morning along tree lined streets of the Parisian sub-urbs to work.

You see, all big cities have this same look about them. Paris included. On my last evening, my lovely colleaguse, though knowing that I have spent many a day in gay Paree, took me on a lovely scenic drive through some of the main monuments of Paris after having a traditional sud-ouest(ern) dinner next to the Palais Royale -  the Grand Palais, the Louvre and its eery glow, L'invalides, and of course the Madamoiselle Eiffel in all its sparkly glory. One can trawl a gazillion photos of these, but I leave you with a photo of 'daily life' in Paris.

this is me, bewildered by the smallest lift in the world.