Paris - Wet and Windy

It is now 2:30 PM... the temperature has peaked at 9°... the sun has taken a day off... the rain is making up for the 6 months of drought we have enjoyed to date... the wind keeps blowing our cheap umbrellas inside out. Parisians are cramped into restaurants biding their time until their next appointment. We are doing the same... filling in 3 hours awaiting the arrival of the EuroStar train from London... carrying Ann and Doug... for their carefree Paris jaunt. We were planning on sightseeing, but the weather has not cooperated.

I can recall lots of songs of Paris... but it's difficult recalling one portraying cold colourless skies... car drivers cranky at the slow progress through the congested streets. Ok, there is the song "I Love Paris" that has a brief mention of loving "Paris in the winter when it drizzles"... but that is just one word "drizzles" in a multi-verse song of love and brightness and carefree nativity... not full disclosure... if you ask me.

Someone has to put this wrong to right. Someone has to write lyrics including reference to "I love Paris when the 'eco drive clock' in my car shows we have been stationary for periods totalling 30 minutes to get from the outskirts of Paris to its centre." "I love Paris when the passing car sprays water over us that runs down and wets the inside of my shoes." "I love Paris when six layers of clothing is not enough". "I love Paris when every seat in the restaurant is full... and the air hasn't a trace of oxygen left". "I love Paris when the pretty girls push you aside in the rush to the next weather shelter". Come on all you creative types... get to work on a hit single conveying these thoughts!

We will be staying with Ann and Doug just outside of Paris in Fontainebleau. Everyone has done Versailles...  Fontainebleau is the next step down in celebrity housing... still far better than the hunting lodge of Rambouillet... where we stayed for the last two nights. We are hoping for good weather so we can walk the lanes and view other dairies.
The Spanish robbed their poor to build magnificent cathedrals... the French are not quite as wasteful in church expenditure... but they made up for this shortcoming with the amount spent on royal palaces. Either way, the poor lost out... not much spent on Medicare or curbing and guttering.

The train has arrived on time... split second accuracy... Ann and Doug are in fine spirits... the evening traffic was challenging so we set out straight away for Fontainebleau Country Club... sounds grand... we arrived in darkness... so can't verify its grandeur. We did pass some very grand residences along the way... so the Chateaux may indeed be grand as well.