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The next day dawned grim and rainy. I decided it would be a good day to check out the Pompidou centre, but when I arrived at 10.30am, I found out it wouldn’t open until 11am. So I wandered around in the drizzle for half an hour, returning to read the sign more carefully and realise it wasn’t actually going to open at all (it being a Tuesday). So I had another extended left bank wander instead, also looking round the wealthy enclave of Ile St. Louis, and popping into Notre Dame again. It was much quieter this time, and seemed all the more impressive for it.

I had lunch of French bread and cheese near Boulevard Jules Ferry, then went to Gare du Nord to buy a ticket back to Calais. The rain built up to monsoon proportions while I was at the station, but by the time I was done it had eased back to a heavy drizzle, so I thought I’d go up Montmartre.

The rubbish Rough Guide said that the walk up was only for the fit, and recommended the funicular, but I thought it was an easy stroll up to the top. The view, although nothing like that from the Eiffel tower, was still pretty brilliant, and after a quick look inside Sacre Coeur (it was a building site inside at the time – much better to appreciate from outside), I spent a while gazing out over Paris.

This was the moment I felt my student days were really over. I was going to have to get a job as soon as I got back, as there were no more grant cheques on the horizon. I felt melancholy as I pondered the passage of the last four years, standing up there in the rain. But I pulled myself together as it was getting dark, and the rain began to beat heavily again. I went back to the hostel for the last time.

The sky was still leaden in the morning, but it was dry as I made my way to the station. The TGV conveyed me quickly and pleasantly to Calais, where the sun had broken out, and by the time I was across the channel, it was a warm, sunny day. France was clearly visible across the water, which is always startling. I got on the train back to London, and prepared myself for the real world.