Wow, what a city. As far as cities go, this one is about as good as it gets, for me. Clean, extremely easy transport, good food everywhere, amazing history and well kept breathtaking monuments and nice people. What a balance of easy living, indulgence and culture.
I caught the metro everywhere. Here, every train leaves every 4 minutes. It's flawless and constantly on time. Other than the smell of stale piss here and there...
I could definitely live here, and plan on doing so for maybe just 6 months at some point to learn french..
Favourite French moments that spring to mind
- Strolling Montmartre with the worlds best tarts
- Strolling St. Martin canal with the worlds best ice cream
- Strolling Place de Concorde with the worlds best chocolates
Strange pattern here. Probably because they are the best desserts I've ever had. And it slows your pace, for those few blissful minutes you stop to smell the roses just a bit more. Never thought that sugar would be a mainstay for my actual happiness....
Also there was:
- Learning to eat Mussels off the older French couple
- Devouring what ever duck leg I could find
- Monet!! L'Orangerie and Orsay. Takes you away
- St. Chappell and Notre Dame. History, pride and beauty with out the overbearing religious feel.
A super Parisian moment I forgot to mention previously - on the way to the metro one morning I stopped at a local shop and got a quiche. Spinach. Like heaps and heaps of spinach, but so damn yummy and not chewy stringy. So good. Eating that on the way out for the day, followed by some, wicked nougat. Really such an easy (and not UNhealthy) way to start a day. Hmm :)
My spoken French is basically non existent, but that which I do have goes a long way and it has been fun seeing people think that I'm a local (until my second or third word). Nice to not feel like a tourist. That is after I calmed enough not to spurt out Merci for anything that you needed to say. Even if if should have been 'hello' or 'sorry'. Or the other common occurrence of speaking Hindi words cos they're the only foreign words that come naturally. Hindi for yes is an understated 'huh', without an inflection kick at the end, rather dry. It was pretty bad the number of time this came out instead of 'oui'. Luckily I had no witness!! Until now.... :/
My only other failing was the handedness. Keep right. Doesn't sound difficult. Except that keeping left is engrained in every inch of your being!!! I smashed into people constantly on sidewalks, metro steps, queues etc, but luckily avoided anything serious when cycling on the roads (following the leader there might have helped). Much more of an issue than you'd ever imagine. But funny every time.
Minor negatives of this leg:
- They gave me sugar to add to my orange juice?!?? Wow, surely that's too intense for anyone?? I'm guessing again that influence of the American tourists?
- Ridiculous food and leg pain from the stupid amount of walking! And the residual pain days later! (Also saw heaps of people with knee or ankle braces, even crutches getting around... I imagine many tourists are tripping on cobblestones or getting over works like me? So weird how many there were)
And super purchases:
- Damn fine gold yellow calf leather handbag, by a local designer, also a Julie
- Searched the entire of Paris for a watch, settled on a Calvin Klein beauty.
- Some simple dresses and a leather belt. Already worn enough to warrant lacking bag space
And here is my street, front door and house:
No comments:
Post a Comment