During the second week of May 2007, we flew from Marseille to Paris for a three-day stay. Unfortunately, the weather was generally gray, with occasional drizzles and cool temperatures. But Paris itself was utterly delightful. We had booked rooms at Hôtel Saint-Thomas d'Aquin, located at 3 rue du Pré-aux-Clercs, a quiet side-street in the Saint-Germain des Prés neighborhood of the 6th arondissement (district) on the Left Bank. The hotel was a gem - small, somewhat elderly, but well furnished and maintained, reasonably priced (reasonable, that is, for Paris - about $195 per night for a double facing the street, king-sized bed, breakfast included), and blessed with a very friendly, helpful, and efficient staff. You can visit the hotel online at http://www.hotel-st-thomas-daquin.com/. Saint-Germain des Prés is a very lovely, historic, and lively area. For Paris sight-seers, the location of our hotel was superb - 2 blocks south to the Boulevard Saint-Germain, a quintessentially Parisian avenue with all the restaurants and shops one would expect, and 3 blocks north to the Quai Voltaire, the Seine River - and the Pont du Carrousel, directly across which lies the Louvre Museum. Our first evening there, our hotel concierge arranged for a taxi to drive us around the city and show us the sights. The ride lasted for well over an hour and cost only 50 euros plus tip (altogether, about $90 at the then-rate of exchange). The taxi driver, who was from Southeast Asia, was extremely patient and accommodating as we hopped in and out of the car numerous times to take photos. Most of our second day was spent visiting the Eiffel Tower and its surrounding neighborhood. On our third day, we spent a few hours at the Louvre and then took a jump-on/jump-off tour bus that followed a route covering about two-thirds of central Paris.