Paris: Hotel Matignon (Tuesday 24/10/2017).
I do like nice things but I recognise that I can be a bit parsimonious. Quite rightly, this is usually enough to disqualify me from making the important decisions that ensure the smooth running of Family Carter. Clare has her roadmap to happiness and while I may meander the B roads casually searching for it, she always opts for the direct route where deviation is a dirty word. The result is that we are always well housed and amply fed when we go abroad; were it left to me, the children would go hungry and we would all sleep under a park bench. But Clare's single mindedness can have unexpected consequences. Our recent trip to Paris was a good example. The apartment she booked was on the narrow Rue de Varenne in the 7th arrondissement. It was on the 1st floor of a typically Parisian building; constructed in ubiquitous creamy limestone, the ground floor given over to a café adorned with the statutory awning and the perpetual gaggle of well heeled smokers. 7th arrondis...