How the other half lives

Last night we went to a party in an apartment with high ceilings and windows that open onto the Seine. The bateaux mouches floated by, shining their lights on the facade and into the lovely warm room filled with friends of our friend Carol. Carol and Jim have set up housekeeping for the month in an apartment on Quai des Grand Augustins, across from the Ile de la Cité, where Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret drank his coffee and solved his crimes.

No hint of Maigret last night however among the artists, intellectuals and visiting Americans enjoying Carol's delicious and copious food and drink, offered among the oriental rugs and modern paintings of the landlord. In front of windows wide open to the warm night, people milled and talked and nibbled and sipped. By the time we left after midnight we had collected several cards from people we enjoyed meeting and were ready to brave the search for a taxi.

(Remember those shoes I bought? Those heels are not really meant for metro stairs and corridors!)