Miscellaneous Thoughts on Paris

Annette and Will and I came back home from Paris yesterday, which means I am uncertain as to what time it is right now. My clock (when I started this) says 5:50 AM, six hours behind where I was yesterday morning. My body thinks it is somewhere in-between. So before I get back to work (there is this whole pesky “job” thing that is going to start demanding a lot more attention) and to the gym, a series of miscellaneous observations about our trip.

  • We stayed in a fantastic apartment right next to the Lamarck-Caulaincourt metro stop which is very near Sacre-Coeur and Montmartre. It was two bedrooms with a small kitchen, a large living room area, and rock-solid wifi. There were plenty of grocery stores, cafes, bread stores, etc. within about a block. There was no air conditioning, but we didn’t have hot weather, and when we opened the windows and the doors, it was positively windy. Honestly, I have to get pretty nit-picky to complain about it. If we ever do this trip again we’ll for sure try to stay here, and I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone.
  • We took the Paris Metro everywhere; in fact, Will and I took a taxi to the airport and we all took a taxi back to the airport when we left, and that was it. The metro system was very easy and reminded me a lot of getting around DC. Though if I go to Paris again anytime soon, I would probably try out the bus system. I hear that too is pretty easy, and it has the added advantage of having a view.
  • One of my main fears concerns about the trip was my complete ignorance of French. You’ve heard the stories before about this, about the French peoples’ ‘tude regarding people who don’t speak French, etc., etc. This wasn’t an issue. The scariest lack of French problem was in the taxi from the apartment because the driver got lost, but with my iPhone (thanks, Google maps!) and some pointing, it all worked out. Everyone else we dealt with spoke at least some English, some quite a bit.
  • I was also worried about the famous French/Parisian rudeness. Also not a problem. Oh sure, wait staff doesn’t hover or try to form a “personal relationship” like the do in the U.S. (as in “Hi!! how you doin’?!?! Welcome to T.G.I.Fridays where we believe in a fun and happy time! My name is Staci and I am so happy to be waiting on you! Can I interest you in any of our fantastic deep fried appetizers?!?”) But our politeness and patience was always warmly returned. I think the best way to avoid the problems of the language barrier and rudeness is don’t be an asshole American and all will be well. And for what it’s worth, we did see a few groups of asshole Americans.
  • In many ways, Paris reminded me of New York and Washington, D.C.: a diverse and international population, very touristy, and lots of monuments and museums. Also a surprising (to me) number of beggars and street people of various sorts, and a lot of graffiti. There were lots of warnings about pickpockets, but I didn’t see anything that made me worried. I’ve been a lot more concerned about my safety at times in Detroit or Chicago. About the same costs for meals, not counting some of the more specifically French efforts at sticking it to the tourists– a lot of places charged for tap water, for example.
  • Needless to say, we saw many of the usual sites.  We went to the Eiffel Tower, though we don’t go up it because waiting in line for several hours for a view not as good as the one we had from climbing to the top of Sacre-Coeur didn’t seem like a good idea. We of course went to the Louvre, which is quite impressive indeed. Of course we kind of saw the Mona Lisa, but given the crowds and the way it’s displayed, it would not surprise me at all if it turned out that what we saw was a duplicate. No way as impressive as Dave in Florence. We toured Notre Dame, took a Seine Cruise, went to Versailles (which I liked better than Annette and Will, though I would agree that there was better stuff we did), the Orsay (probably my favorite in terms of the kind of art I like), and the Pompidou (which had some art that was quite cool and some art that was quite silly). I think our favorite museum was the Rodin Museum because it wasn’t crowded and it had lovely grounds.
  • And we ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. We ate at one fancy restaurant and one really good bistro recommended by Clayton, but for the most part, we just ate at cafes and bistros that were all quite good. Every morning, I went out for baguette and croissant that were always fantastic. I feel a little withdrawal this morning. Being a vegetarian in France would be challenging and I think vegans would starve.

Speaking of all that eating, it is now time for the gym and a return to reality.

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