We had breakfast with M at the Hotel - and except that the soft-boiled eggs weren't today, it was wonderful again.
We had to check out by 11am but luckily M was staying on another day so we were able to store our bags in her room (and Sooz was able to rest there - she is still not completely overhead lurgy) while I went off to do some more exploring in Amsterdam. I had planned to walk in a different direction today - which I did, and then I was back near the canals (there are a few of them in Amsterdam) and thinking about taking another trip around the canals. It was either that or go to the BodyWorld museum which I had known was quite close but which was literally a couple of corners away from our Hotel. The canal cruise won out and I chose a one-hour cruise that was leaving within a couple of minutes otherwise I was going to run out of time.
Time was against us today. We had planned to at Upstairs Pancakes - the oldest pancake establishment in Amsterdam. It's been operating since 1961 in a house dating back to 1539. It is the smallest pancake restaurant in Europe and is popular enough that you can only book by telephone a week ahead. We had made a booking for 1pm today but because of Amsterdam traffic and conditions, we couldn't do lunch and make it to the train station to leave good time to catch the Eurostar to Paris.
Syl, An and Vi did go (they're not leaving Amsterdam until tomorrow or the day after) and in Syl's blog she noted that it should have been called "Up-very-steep-Stairs Pancakes". They all had to come down the stairs backwards - but the pancakes were good!
We had lunch near the Hotel before catching a taxi to Centraal station. When I spoke with Information on Wednesday, they said it would be best to get to the station 60 minutes before the train time. We were, but we wished we weren't. We waited on the platform - in the (very) cold - and then changed platforms when it became evident we were on the wrong one. M had come to see us off and help make sure we and our bags (repacked down to 2 suitcases and 2 backpacks) made it on the train. She was wonderful (thank you M) ... and absolutely frozen by the time we boarded the correct carriage on the correct train. We settled in to our warm seats knowing she still had to get back to the Hotel. I'm sure she was doing a "trying to stay warm" dance as we pulled out of the station.
The train was half-an-hour late getting in to Paris but it was a comfortable ride and we enjoyed some cats and a drink and watching the world speed by (before night fell). In Paris, Sooz used her French-language skills to ask about taxis and we were checking in to our hotel within 30 minutes of leaving the Eurostar. We didn't see any of the landmarks on the drive there, except for the revolving light at the very top of the Eiffel Tower.
It would be fair to say Sooz was surprised when I opened the door to our room. She is used to quite small-ish hotel rooms, especially in Europe, but this one is, well, big. It's decorated in older French style (I may be making that up-I'm not good on styles) and is very distinctive. It will definitely do for the next 10 days.
We went down the block for a bite to eat and a coffee and then, tired but happy, went back to the hotel and to bed, to be ready to explore Paris on the morrow.