Random Notes. Didn't make it into other blog entries.

Autolib.  Paris has had Velib, the free or cheap bikes you can borrow, for nearly 10 years.  They now have the same(?) with electric cars.  We never needed one so we didn't try to figure them out.  But, what struck me was the slogan on the side of the cars, "Free, like the air".

 

Before we began the blog I said I'd do some blog posts from Emmy's perspective.  I never figured out how to do this in a way that wasn't just trite.  Paris became her world, probably even more than it did ours.  She made friends.  She played with them.  Language was (probably) not a barrier.  She walked the same city streets often enough that they probably seemed like home.  She spent many hours in our apartment, enough that we're pretty sure she thought she'd simply moved.  The 65 steps up, and down, that she had to take 3 times each day to go to the bathroom never seemed to bother her as much as they did us.  Some variety in food, but she always prefers variety in her food.  Odd things to taste that she found in the gutters.  Less running because she didn't have access to our LA backyard -- the Foch park was often too muddy to let her run on it.  Colder.  Rainier.  More noises, and more variety of noises.  Same bed (crate) to sleep in at night.  And same owners fawning over her.

 

I'm never tired of "downtown" Paris.  The Pont des Arts.  The Louvre.  The view of Notre Dame.  Shakespeare & Co.  The warren of streets and shops in the 6th.  Never tired of it.  I know it's not really Paris, but it is my favorite part.

 

There were a surprising number of furniture, clothing and shoe repair storefronts.  We've read that Parisians are frugal, and this seemed to prove it out.

 

When you get on the bus, you look the bus driver in the eye and say hello.  I love that.

 

I ate so much chocolate in the first couple weeks, attending the Salon du Chocolat with its unlimited offerings, that I never bought chocolate from a shop the rest of the trip.  I did order chocolate based desserts, almost every time, but never bought chocolates at the shops that populated the Salon.

 

Good hot chocolate is worth the price.  And, I still haven't forgiven Starbucks for discontinuing their offering (Chantico???) years ago.  It was a credible option.

 

Paris makes you work, unlike LA.  You've got to walk.  You've got to wait.  Your credit card doesn't work and it's your problem.  There are lots of other people in the way. The stores have much more limited selections.  Kleenex is out of stock.  It's cold.  Then it's warm and you sweat.  You don't always understand what the signs say, let alone the people.  It's new.  Or, is it traditional and you just don't understand the tradition?  Sometimes you have to deposit a euro to get a grocery cart and other times you don't.  Quite a few of the great restaurants don't take reservations.  Without fail your dog is allowed to come in.  Hertz and McDonalds and Starbucks are here, as are hundred year old restaurants.  Some of it is just, "it's just different" and other parts are an onion to unpeel or a level of patience to develop.

 

Meetups.  We signed up for dozens of them before we left.  We got excited as our day of departure for Paris approached and we saw events we could attend.  And now, in the last week, we see events scheduled for places in Paris we'd like to go, but scheduled to occur after we're back in LA...

 

We're travelling outside the laminate map areas (i.e. the tourist areas) of the city.  It really does seem to be a safe city.  And we're spending a decent amount of time doing things, eating and drinking, walking streets, in areas that are outside the part of the city covered by the laminate map we carry with us.

 

Things that seemed novel now seem ordinary.  Many nights I walk Emmy past a suntanning storefront a couple blocks from the apartment.  The name of the place is "Sun and the City".  At first that name seemed odd or amusing.  Now, I don't even notice.  I'm getting used to being here.  But, I still try to notice the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe during those evening walks.

 

Official France is calcified, but private France is adapting, and that's good.  The other day I saw the postal guy putting address stickers onto magazines in a stack on his cart.  Couldn't that have been done back at the post office, or just automated entirely?  On the other hand, the local bakery has a ready supply of sandwiches for people who just want to grab one and get on with their day.  I don't think I like change -- we've been surprised enough at how much this city has changed in the 8 years since our last visit.  But... change has to happen.  Hopefully we'll recognize enough of "what was new now" when it's older next time we visit Paris.