Paris in the fall

I have just returned from Paris a city that is very dear to me as it was where I proposed to my wife over twenty years ago. We actually found the restaurant where I had one two many oysters all those years ago and popped the question.Paris, always busy and a joy if you love the cafe society and buzz of a cultural big city. But this year with the pound falling below parity with the Euro, my goodness how expensive! Just a few days and the expenditure starts to bring water to the eyes.The price of everything was prohibitive, however I was amazed to see how vibrant the city economy appeared. The cafes and restaurants full at lunch and dinner, the shops busy with bustling shoppers, it made me think that in terms of recession France are way ahead of the UK. There was one concern however, the number of homeless sleeping on the streets. As soon as the shops shut in the evening the doorways which offered some sort of protection were sought out by people carrying all their possessions in carrier bags. Roughly made beds of plastic foam or just newspaper laid out and the doorways became the bedroom for the night. If this is what is going to happen to our brave new Europe then all macro politicians have got a lot of thinking to do because clearly something is not working!