Reached Paris

After a smooth but very fast train ride (apparently the train goes upto 343km/h) on the Eurostar we reach Paris (Gare du Nord) just before 11am.

Upon reaching Paris we first withdrew some Euros and the caught two taxis to the apartment. The total cost was just under €20.

Fortunately the person managing the apartment (Erika) was already there and she gave us the keys and ran us through the basics. She also was kind enough to accept the bond in our currency (rather than be stuck with €200 on our last day here).

She didn't speak much English and so we had the usual hiccups - she said first floor and we heard 5th floor so we sent Afzal with the luggage off in the lift to the fifth before realising.

The apartment is very roomy and very old with large windows and high ceilings.

Its has been very cloudy and now its raining - hoping it won't stay this way for our entire trip.

We are now resting. After prayer we will head off for lunch and explore.