Dupleix is an old train station. Take the train one way and it heads out over the Seine. Take it the other and you are headed to the heart of old Paris.
The train is never late in Paris. So, within a few minutes I was on board the green, people-laden workhorse which housed all classes of people from the destitute to the well-to-do. I took it all in. I was so excited I couldn’t think of a way to capture the moment . . past Place d’Italie, Montparnasse, la Nation and eventually Montmarte and the stars.
I looked up at the inevitable graffitti and the ads for a Charles Aznavour concert and Chanel No. 9. So exciting! I didn’t know how I could remember it all.
As I looked across the train, a young woman stood up, walked uneasily down the aisle . . and offered me her seat.
Reality reared its ugly head.