Arriving

After a few days of wandering about, we finally had to make the final push north and it was long and pretty tedious. But arrival is everything. And here we are in one of our most favourite hotels - Hotel Meurice, Calais.

We have been staying at Meurice for many years and love the place. It has an old fashioned air of gentility, but is not in the least bit pretentious, or expensive. It's a delightful place to step into, the reception areas have an old world charm, as do the rooms. I have probably blipped this view before, but I don't apologise for that - the staircase just captures the gentile splendour of the whole place. (Extra - outside)

We have two nights here and hope tomorrow to have a day by the sea and then some shopping. We are booked for a pre-birthday evening meal at one of our favourite restaurants. Tonight we ate at another one - just round the corner. Super food, beautifully presented, at a modest price. The thing that these little French restaurants do so successfully, night after night. 

As we travel through France we often listen to the radio - mainly Nostalgi, which as the name suggests plays oldish music. In the past this was mainly American and UK music from our era, but then a few years ago legislation decreed that radio stations must have at least 40% French music. We have been amused, as they obviously struggle to find enough French music to play, but today was different as every other track was Charles Aznavour.