Things to take away from the trip; from one island city to another.
1. Paris is gorgeous, but a lot like new York: amidst all the glamor and hype it can get a little dirty.
2. With that said, people here also don't pick up after their dogs. Along the same vein, they must own massive dogs.
3. Onto real thoughts, Paris is gorgeous, on a scale that borders on grand. if you took downtown new York (city hall and all that area) and then made an entire city out of it, that would be Paris. I'm a huge fan.
4. I love how it's a truly walkable city. Well. At least the ile de la cite. I suspect that if I lived there the hype might subside but I spent an entire day walking and I loved it.
5. Worse comes to worse, if the feet get tired the metro is quite a good system. Although they really need to get away from the billet system. It's a bit annoying to have to remember the damned thing on the way out.
6. There is something to be said of French fashion and style. Everybody and their mother is impeccably dressed. I haven't seen anybody out of sorts with regards to going to work, going to the marche, going to the brasserie. That's not to say that everyone is dressed great. A lot of the young ones look like they are transplants from the lower east side. I'm sure it changes as I go from neighborhood to neighborhood but invariably everyone is well put together. With that said, I'm buying a pair of French shoes.
7. you know there always seems to he a pervasive stereotype of the French but really they're no different than your typical new yorker. They party like everybody else, get drunk like everyone else, are aloof when they don't know someone , are just as helpful when they try... plus they always say good day. Always. Way cool. In fact super cool.
8. Yes in fact they do say things like "super cool" ... said "soop-pair kewl"
9. Food: you really can't go wrong. although quite expensive, eating out in France is pretty awesome. Had an unbelievable hamburger patty, steak tartare, crepes and ridiculous amounts of baguettes and cheese. Need to find cheap eats though.
Sidebar: Pilot had to go further north to avoid the Iceland volcano ,and with perfect visibility we came across the mountains and glaciers of Greenland. It was really cool! Like something out of the Planet Earth series. Huge mountains covered with snow jutting out of the earth, with perfectly flat snow plains surrounding it. Sadly was not able to snap a picture of it as the announcement came after it had passed my window. But still incredible, makes me want to watch that segment on the dvd.
~H
I don't think I ever dreamed of doing something like this in high school.
~H
