HOME!

I made it, with 11 km to spare!

I wasn't sure I would make it as I've been falling behind in my running recently, but the idea of failure was just too much for me so I made a concerted effort to run and walk more since my last post, and I'm really pleased that I've covered more than the 222.2 miles from door to door since 1 January!  

It was Easter 1987 that I arrived in Paris with a suitcase and £400 in travellers' cheques.  I stayed for a few weeks with a friend, Pauline Wood, who I had met at college, and who was working for UNESCO, in her tiny 2-room apartment at 6 rue du Foin, just off the Places des Vosges.

The heavy double wooden doors opened onto a lovely courtyard.  Pauline's flat was at the very top of the far wing of the building, and had once been part of the servants' quarters. 

I think that this apartment may well be Pauline's - very different from when I stayed there in 1987!  It had tons of character, unlike my purpose-built studio that was simply one long room with a kitchen at one end, and a bathroom off the small entrance hall but, at 1,350F a month (approximately £135) I was more than happy with it.  These days you could expect to pay between £850 - £1,100 for a studio in the 11th arrondissement.

I shall stay in Paris for a while now, and contemplate the route I will take home.  It's taken me less than 4 months to 'run' here, so I can stay until at least the end of August before I head back to the UK.  I'm looking forward to revisiting some of my old haunts - do pop back from time to time to see what I'm up to!