I read about this exhibition in the paper and thought that I must go - I'd missed Sly and Robbie playing with Nils Petter Milvaer, I'd missed the 50th Anniversary of something to do with Picasso: I must go.
It turned out it was remarkably easy - Eurostar from London St Pancras International to Guard du Nord, Paris; you can book a hotel with the train, I chose one in Montmartre, a hop and a skip from the Metro, the station and Sacre Couer (and Montmartre ... well, you have to).
I managed to slide the dates in between work commitments, going away a couple of days after we get the funding proposals in, so perfect. The train times were good, too, not too early or late, so easy to move around at either end of the journey.
Just three nights, a day to visit Paris Noir, and a day maybe we'll go on a walking tour about Black History in Paris, meeting in the Luxembourg Gardens. Including fees for the outings and travel insurance for the pair of us, it was a very reasonable price. Only food and drink, the metro and any entertainment (I'm a sucker for boat trips on the river and there is the Eiffel Tower) to pay while we are there.
I've been to Paris a couple of times before, the first time on a school exchange, I went for a week or two during the Easter holidays, my French partner came for a similar time in the summer holidays. We went for Easter Sunday lunch with grandparents living in Paris and then a whistle stop tour of the sights.
I remember I fell off the back of a moped while I was there, all the teenagers had one, grazed my knee badly, completely skinned it. It was the same knee I had scalded badly years before. Actually, I got tingles in that knee the other day!
Later I went through the Staff Social Association where I worked. We went by coach, so two days travelling, two nights and one day in Paris. I was with a partner who loved walking, so we roamed the streets and stayed in a ramshackle but very Parisian hotel in a narrow dim room with French windows (it was February) and a tiny balcony.
I feel that I have been there another time, because I remember eating in a back street restaurant by myself and seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Maybe one of my break out times when I made a bid for independence.
I have been learning French in a disconsolate way - I studied five years of it at school, and then joined the Twinning Association in Minster, which had a five week course of everyday French.
My friend recommended Busuu a language learning app, I think he is learning Italian. But somehow I have got caught up in the verification to make payments (Google payments). I'm sure I'll sort it out before the 70% discount for the first year.
