Elsien's Traveblogue

November 3rd, Paris
Finding myself in a very 'basic' hotel behind the Père Lachaise cemetary. I use 'bookings.com' a lot to get special deals on hotels here in Paris (and elsewhere), and most of the time I do very well – got a 90€ a night hotel a few weeks ago for just 9€. However, I don't seem to have done that well on this one: I'm on the sixth floor, no lift, small room with single bed, a washbasin in the corner behind a half-wall and the toilet and shower in the corridor.
I do have a TV with remote control though and I can get BBC World on it, in black and white, but who cares? So, I'm up to date again about package bombs, airtravel tax and the American mid-term elections .... I don't have a telly in Harlow or in Brussels, rely on Radio 4 instead which is LongWave only in Brussels and gives endless cricket matches...
Went to the Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand, a real monument to Mitterand and, I suppose, to learning .... It consists of four giant tower blocks arranged in a square round a central concrete area with a sunken garden. Inside you go to the central hall, where you can buy a day ticket for 3.50€ and then you go to your area's reading room where there are quite a few printed books on shelves around. I found three on my painter, Hubert Robert. Next time I can start to get books out of storage. Unfortunately, possibly because it was Half Term, the room was stuffed full of students and I was unlucky to find a seat in what turned out to be a group of them, who used their mobiles and whispered to e11\ach otther constantly, annoying and off-putting.
It was quite a grey day but I did walk around the cemetary area which was really pretty, lots of trees in autumn colours. Back to UK today....