On Monday 1st November 2010 they checked out the Ibis. They were surprised to be offered another free breakfast for all the trouble from the smirking guy in the background. Pity they'd already eaten out that morning. Still, they took up the offer and sat and had a coffee before leaving. They wondered why it was so busy so close to check-out time in the breakfast room. They found out later the clocks had went back so it was 10.45 when they thought it was 11.45.
Nearby was a launderette they stopped off at. They'd been once already but this time they chose the wrong (or right?) machine. The water got blocked and the machine kept on spinning. Kate asked the few people in there if anyone spoke English and a very kind French guy saved the day by offering to call the caretaker on his mobile.
While they waited a little girl in with her mum wanted to play with Kate. They were noticing a pattern of having lots of these kind of encounters with children.
Eventually they got to leave the launderette and discovered the only metro stop they could get off at on their route to the new hotel was called Europe. This seemed significant.
Their hotel was on Rue d'Amsterdam and they soon discovered why the metro was called Europe... all the streets in the area were named after European cities - Moscou, Liege, Naples, Berne, Vienne, Madrid, etc...
Immediately they felt much lighter in this area. For the first time in Paris they felt they had found The Place.
It wasn't just because of the Europe connection. They liked the buildings, could see themselves living there, and the general ambience of the place. It felt much more relaxed than some parts and not as arty-farty or pretentious as say Montmartre.
That afternoon after they checked into their hotel they felt a strong energy shift within themselves and could only lay there on the bed unable to move for a few hours until they 'came round' again.
