SPRINGTIME IN PARIS

Ah, amour. Nous avons eu un voyage étonnant à Paris et avons apprécié chaque minute de flânerie au sujet de la ville parmi les arbres de floraison, le Parisiennes et les touristes de camarade. Ray et moi sont vraiment chanceux vivre dans la présente partie du monde et pour avoir l'occasion de voyager dans l'ensemble de l'Europe.



I've decided that it would be boring and rather conventional to report back on our trip as a series of Day 1 Events, Day 2 Events; instead, I've chosen to separate out categories of - for lack of a better word - "stuff", and my impression of said stuff:

The Eurostar:
Pretty slick way to get around. Waterloo (London) terminal needs a little Clive-love (Ray's uncle is an architect for these kinds of things) but the trains themselves are pretty nice. Doesn't hurt that the large group of students jumping around the terminal were seated in a different car from us. Boy does that sentence make me sound old.



The Paris Metro:
Yep, it's stinky. Sure glad we weren't riding it on an August afternoon. Perhaps I should refer those folks to last week's blog entry extolling the virtues of deodorant; then again, perhaps I'm just being a prudish North American.

Paris, the city:
Gorgeous, it goes without saying. Wide boulevards, blooming trees, fantastic architecture. Those kings and emperors with inferiority complexes sure knew how to build a great-looking city.


The Arc de Triomphe, near our hotel


Looking down the Champs Elysees from the top of the Arc de Triomphe


Roads leading out from the Arc de Triomphe (around which is a huge roundabout), La Defense skyscrapers in the background


On a bridge over the Seine, Eiffel Tour in the background


The "Big Asparagus", as Parisiennes refered to the structure when first erected


No introduction necessary


Look up, wwwwaaaaaaaayyyyyyy up....


Plaza at the Louvre with the Arc du Carosel in the background


Fountain at Place de la Concorde (separates the Tuilerie Gardens and the start of the Champs Elysees)


The start of the Tuilerie Garden - a little muddy at this time of year!

Our hotel:
We stayed at a quaint little place just 10 minutes' walk from the Arc de Triomphe and it was perfect for our needs - clean, secure, and close to the Metro and other amenities. I loved walking through the market every morning and evening; if we'd had a kitchen it would have been perfect because I would have really enjoyed buying fresh produce (and wine!!) and then preparing our own meal. Something to consider upon our next visit.


The view from our 5th floor room

On speaking - or not speaking - French:
Contrary to stereotype, we found Parisiennes to be unfailingly polite and encouraging when we assaulted them with our barely-there French. We were able to order food and politely turn down street peddlars; next time I'm aiming to ask for directions and for suggestions on wine. My biggest difficulty? Highschool French gave me basic comprehension, but failed to prepare me for the twists and turns inherent in everyday conversation. So I could ask for something, but instead of the reply being "Ici!" (as in French 11), I would be asked to clarify which item I wanted, how many, did I want fries with that, etc., etc. Tricky stuff but it inspired both Ray and I to vow that we WILL take language classes sometime in the near future.

Food:
If you are on the Atkins diet, Paris is not the city for you. Can you say pastry? We enjoyed munching on a host of French fare, the most yummy being croissants and little choux pastries. I brought some home to England with me but sadly they are long, long gone. On this trip, we skipped a fancy dinner and mostly stuck to lower-key cafes and bistros, which ended up being a great way to try out a bunch of different eateries without spending a fortune.

Artwork:
It's all been said before, so I won't take the time to repeat all the ooh-ing and aw-ing here. The collections are amazing, the crowds surging to see them equally so, and we soaked up the scene at two different galleries (Musee d'Orsay and Musee du Louvre). The huge scope of the collections, and the relative speed at which one must progress through the galleries if one hopes to see even a small portion of the artwork, did give me cause to wonder, though, about the value of public art in such large doses. For example: if a person owns a painting, they can look at it at length and really savour the piece, the work that went into it, the different interpretations of the subject - the catch being that no one else (beyond their circle of guests) has the opportunity to view it. Artwork in a gallery can be viewed by thousands or even millions of people, but the average person spends only a few seconds looking at individual works. So one could glance at a Rembrandt, and agree that it's "good", but it takes time (or at least it takes me time!) to really get into the subject and discover all the layers and skill behind the painting. Which - private/long viewing or public masses/short viewing - is best? I definitely don't have the answer to that one.


Ray in front of the main Louvre courtyard


Entrance to the Louvre

Rudeness:
The only sign of famed Parisienne rudeness came not from the locals but rather from the tourists, those trophy-hunters of photos of famous works of art. Despite the signs politely asking people to refrain from using flash photography (which damages the artwork over time) in the galleries, I saw countless people snapping bright shots. No wonder the Mona Lisa is behind so much glass - other than security concerns - it took more than six guards continually yelling "No cameras!" to keep the crowd from wantonly snapping. I don't understand - if you want a good picture of the Mona Lisa, buy a poster from the gallery lobby; it'll certainly be of better quality than the shot over the security guy's angry face of a blurry portrait in the background. I also don't understand getting into a rude pose next to the sculptures and having your photo taken: another type of trophy? I'm sure your grandchildren will cherish that shot of you making bunny ears behind Venus de Milo. And: if you are speaking to a Parisienne in English, and they don't understand you (indicated by politely replying "Je ne parle pas anglais"), your next sensible course of action is NOT to keep repeating your english in increasingly loud and condescending tones.

But I digress.

Beauty:
Being in the City of Love with my wonderful husband, excited to be sharing this adventure with each other. The gentle waft of blooming flowers in the public gardens. Women in elegant clothin walking up Champs-Elysees in the afternoon. The Eiffel Tour silhouetted against a stormy evening sky. Venus de Milo, beauty herself, at the end of a corridor of warriors in the Louvre. Fresh pastries in the morning (and afternoon, and evening...). The kindness and smiles of so many strangers.

Will we go back someday? You can count on it.