Paris

Anyone who has ever waited for the lift at Russell Square tube station will probably have contemplated climbing the two hundred or so stairs to ground level instead but it's not for the faint hearted. No such dilemma in Paris this week where, with an hour to kill before heading to the airport and having walked the short distance from the client's office to the Arc de Triomphe, I found the lift out of action and the only way to join the tourists for a view of Paris at dusk was to climb the two hundred and eighty four steps to the top from where the Eiffel Tower looked as magnificent as ever.