:: Bonne Année etc... ::

So here I am, then. Sat in an internet café in the shadow of the Centre Pompidou, being serenaded, somewhat bizarrely, by the strains of London's Jazz FM. And do you know what? Despite my misgivings, I'm loving it in Paris, especially the 4th arrondissement, where our apartment is located - see here for a hilarious if slightly innaccurate description.

Paris is my (now long-ago) ex's favourite place in the world. Our arguments comparing here with London, centred round my perceptions of the place as stuffy and bourgeois, attitudes I've seen little evidence of this time around. I would certainly consider living here, too - if only for the food!

The New Year's celebrations here may have been a little below par (my fault, for being grumpy and bunged up with a cold), certainly compared with last year's New York blow-out, but this has been a fantastic break, not least because of the coming hectic schedule...