Whoever said the French were an arrogant race ...

... obviousy hadn't met our tour bus driver.

Imagine the scene. Daughter formerly known as Dolly and I sheltering in a telephone box from heavy, heavy rain and gale force winds in Paris on Friday morning, waiting for the Paris City Tour Bus to arrive. The weather dictated that a morning on the tour bus was just the ticket.

When the bus did eventually (late) arrive we scrambled on board with the rest of the passengers and waited our turn to pay. 46 Euro, but cheap at half the price if it kept us amused and more importantly, dry.

Only ... (there's always an only) they didn't take credit cards as payment and I only had 20 Euro cash. And not enough French to explain to a bus driver who had even less English what my predicament was.

But somehow he understood the problem: 'No worry, no worry! I drive you to ze bank'

And that, is precisely what he did! He drove his big red tour bus through the sidestreets of Paris and stopped outside a bank, waiting long enough for me to disembark and retrieve some cash before heading back onto his tour of the City.

I can only start to imagine what the others on the tour must have thought. Vive la France!