The problem with travelling to Paris these days, as Nancy discovered, is that Paris has become so pricey that one has to count every euro. Even the holy candles which you light in church are now 2 euros each!  That means if you light one for each of your family of five, you're spending almost £10, just to say a prayer.  Truly, that is inflation.

I often light candles in the St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Chelsea.  You can buy 5 candles for £1. So French holy candles are ten times more!  This is probably why there are so few candles burning in Paris churches.

"When four of us tried to find chairs together in the Café de la Mairie on Place St. Sulpice, the bustling waiter left us standing there like dumb animals, while he beamed warm greetings to locals, waving them into the empty chairs which we had hoped to occupy. Eventually, he pointed toward some distant chairs around the corner, and sneered to us to sit down.  Actually, we left!"

Nancy was right about my dear fellow Parisians, who can be disdainful of visitors. Tourists lose their confidence around this arrogant behaviour and become even more timid and cowering.  Nancy says when this happens to her she loses her ability to speak even simple phrases in French.  Things go from bad to worse.

"We finally found a more sympathetic welcome at the Mabillon on the corner of rue Bucci and St. Germain.  They were happy to seat us there.  We ordered four salads, a beer and three glasses of wine, which came to £100.  Although good, it was not that memorable, except for the price!  No wonder they were pleased to find us seats."

Because the euro is almost on a parity with sterling, boutique hotels appear to be charging as much as luxury ones.  Actually they are charging the same as ever, it's just costing more in foreign exchange. "Le petit déjeuner in the room which is one of the treats of being in Paris was £30. So each morning we walked down to the Patisserie Eric Kayzer on the Rue du Bac, where all of Paris seemed to be coming in for fresh juice, café crème, and croissants.  This was a mere £7 a head."  The light airy interior attracted what looked like the cream of Paris society for delicious pear and chocolate tart, loaves of freshly baked pain de campagne and the most amazing selection of aromatic teas!

Nancy saw a poulet rôti on the street priced 14 Euros. "That's almost £14 for a chicken."  Nancy comes from Arkansas where plump chickens cost only £1 each.  Our friends in Paris tell us that even for the French the price of living has indeed gone up because of the euro.  "If that's what the European market has done for us, I'm joining the Euro- sceptics," concluded Nancy.

"Our taxi to the Gare du Nord which was not very distant from the Hotel Duc de St. Simon was £38. Because our driver took the long way around we became caught in a embouteillage (bottle neck) and nearly missed the 3:11 pm. Eurostar.  All and all we seemed to be gushing money everywhere we went.  I'm not sure that Paris is worth it anymore!"

"Still, springtime in Paris gives one a lift," says Nancy, "that can't be found anywhere else." She described the thrill she felt standing on the Pont Alexandre III and looking across the city toward the Eiffel Tower which twinkled with lights in the darkness. She said the scene made her feel younger and that's worth it's weight in gold...or plump chickens.  Her views on Pernod, however,  haven't changed, "It will never be a popular drink."

My darling Nancy expresses all the naïveté of the new world.

Comme c'est charmant...