Paris Notes (1)

Not having been to Paris for a while, herself and myself grabbed a
bargain offer and betook ourselves to the city of light for a short
break. We had no plan, no programme -- just to be in Paris would
suffice. So the reader need not look for an abbreviated guidebook
report. We have "done" a good deal of the standard stuff in the past,
and didn't feel a great urge to do most of them again. But Paris has
so much to offer that one can make a score of visits and still not
have hit all the major attractions.

I won't bore you with more complaints about sore feet. Let's just take
it as read that whenever herself and I visit a city we start out with
the intention of managing our walking so as to minimise attrition on
our feet, and are tempted into breaking our resolution on the first
day. And so it was again: feet wrecked. What did we get for our pains?

The smell of food:
Among our new experiences was a stroll along Rue Mouffetard on Sunday
morning, savouring the aromas of the foodstuffs on sale: fresh bread;
cheeses; exotic fruits; charcuterie; herbs and spices. And further up
the street, the smell of cooking as the restaurants prepared lunch.
Yet again, as we so often do in cities, we wondered if we would have
been better off renting an apartment so that we could do some catering
for ourselves: I find it difficult to visit wonderful food markets and
know that there is no point in getting involved with the produce on
sale. Next time...

The Pantheon:
For whatever reason, we had never visited the Pantheon before, so we
made good that deficiency. It is impressively vast, and far more like
a church than the secular building which it is purported to be (of
course, it was built as a church and served as one at various times).
It is now maintained as a national memorial to many of the great
figures of politics, the military, philosophy, science, and the arts.
It seemed fitting, given the turmoil of the French revolution, that
two leading figures of those troubled times (Mirabeau and Marat) had
been interred there and later evicted. The crypt is worth an hour of
anybody's time -- especially on a very hot day.

Parks:
The parks of Paris are special -- not just the great and renowned ones
such as the Jardin desTuileries and the Jardin du Luxembourg, but also
many others, including (perhaps especially) the "pocket parks" which
dot the city. They are oases of green which lighten the city, and
where one can sit, relax, and observe life, be it the swarming of
tourists in the major parks or aspects of the ordinary life of
Parisians in the neighbourhood parks.

The Louv
Of course.

Paris Plage:
This was our first experience of this innovation -- a beach resort in
an inland city. Work on setting it up was still in progress, but
people were already exploiting as much as possible. When I first heard
of the idea of taking a major traffic thoroughfare and converting it
to a beach-style resort, I thought it seemed a daft idea. Now I think
it is not. It's a proper affirmation that cities are for all kinds of
people, and not just those in motor vehicles.

Music:
Paris has a lot of bad buskers and some superb ones. A five-piece jazz
band, average age easily 60, on Rue Mouffetard was well worth
listening to. So too was a seven-man outfit on Pont St. Louis (the
bridge connecting Ile de la Cité with Ile St. Louis, one of the best
locations in Paris for good public entertainment). Less appealing are
those buskers who invade Métro carriages and force themselves on
travellers, and who are often not very good.

Traffic:
On previous visits, I had formed the impression that drivers in Paris
are aggressive, and that a green pedestrian light at a crossing should
be regarded as an invitation to dice with death. This time, however,
things seemed easier. Nearly all drivers seemed to respect our right
to use the crossings; the only exceptions were, to my surprise,
professional drivers, one in a taxi, and the other in a tour minibus.
Obviously, on a short visit, it is impossible to make an informed
judgement on whether there has been a real improvement, but it
certainly seemed so.

Pavement hazards:
Paris has had, deservedly, a bad reputation for dog-fouled pavements.
Various efforts have been made to address the problem and it seems to
me that they have been paying off. But now pedestrians in Paris must
live with a greater nuisance than the danger of stepping in canine
faeces. The new hazard is the roller-blader who moves swiftly and
silently, seems incapable of stopping, unwilling to concede ground to
others, and can arrive from any angle without warning. Roller-bladers
often travel in pairs or groups, and can present a frightening
spectacle. Never change direction on a Paris pavement without first
looking behind you.

Speaking English:
It is often said that the French, particularly Parisians, either can
not or will not speak English. This seems to have changed. Both
herself and I speak French moderately well, albeit not quite fluently.
In our hotel, in restaurants, in cafés, and in shops we found that
almost everybody with whom we dealt switched into English even when it
was clear that our command of French was sufficient for the purpose,
and where sometimes their English was less good than our French. So
the new complaint seems to be that the bloody Parisians won't speak
French.

More later.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Speaking English:
It is often said that the French, particularly Parisians, either can
not or will not speak English. This seems to have changed. Both
herself and I speak French moderately well, albeit not quite fluently.
In our hotel, in restaurants, in cafés, and in shops we found that
almost everybody with whom we dealt switched into English even when it
was clear that our command of French was sufficient for the purpose,
and where sometimes their English was less good than our French. So
the new complaint seems to be that the bloody Parisians won't speak
French.

France, more specifically Paris has always been like this. If you make the
effort, and the person you are talking too reckons they can speak English
better than you can French, they will speak back in English. However if you
just Grunt something in English, they mostly, even if they speak fluent
English, will refuse to speak it.

Speaking English:
It is often said that the French, particularly Parisians, either can
not or will not speak English. This seems to have changed. Both
herself and I speak French moderately well, albeit not quite fluently.
In our hotel, in restaurants, in cafés, and in shops we found that
almost everybody with whom we dealt switched into English even when it
was clear that our command of French was sufficient for the purpose,
and where sometimes their English was less good than our French. So
the new complaint seems to be that the bloody Parisians won't speak
French.

France, more specifically Paris has always been like this. If you make the
effort, and the person you are talking too reckons they can speak English
better than you can French, they will speak back in English. However if you
just Grunt something in English, they mostly, even if they speak fluent
English, will refuse to speak it.

Padraig Breathnach writes:

The smell of food:
Among our new experiences was a stroll along Rue Mouffetard on Sunday
morning, savouring the aromas of the foodstuffs on sale:

Mmmmm. On our last visit to Paris we stayed in a hotel very close to
this area, and strolling up the street was a real treat. All the
fresh bread, cheese, vegetables & fruit, everything you can think of
that's delicious to eat and to look at, on sale in shops and being
cooked in restaurants and cafes. My favourite meal in Paris was a
Couscous Royale in a cheap cafe on the Rue Mouffetard.
--
-- Chris.

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 13:08:48 +0100, Padraig Breathnach wrote:

Not having been to Paris for a while, herself and myself grabbed a
bargain offer and betook ourselves to the city of light for a short
break....

Thankyou for a post about Paris that doesn't have slagging off the French
as its theme.
I have only visited one long weekend over 20 years ago, and I found it
interesting but impersonal - more down to me not really liking cities much
than anything else. You make me want to go back and try again.

--
Tim C.

Paris Plage:
This was our first experience of this innovation -- a beach resort in
an inland city. Work on setting it up was still in progress, but
people were already exploiting as much as possible. When I first heard
of the idea of taking a major traffic thoroughfare and converting it
to a beach-style resort, I thought it seemed a daft idea. Now I think
it is not. It's a proper affirmation that cities are for all kinds of
people, and not just those in motor vehicles.


When I was there in March, last years sand was still around, blowing in my
face and eyes :-(

Paris Plage:
This was our first experience of this innovation -- a beach resort in
an inland city. Work on setting it up was still in progress, but
people were already exploiting as much as possible. When I first heard
of the idea of taking a major traffic thoroughfare and converting it
to a beach-style resort, I thought it seemed a daft idea. Now I think
it is not. It's a proper affirmation that cities are for all kinds of
people, and not just those in motor vehicles.


When I was there in March, last years sand was still around, blowing in my
face and eyes :-(

"Padraig Breathnach" a écrit dans le message de
...
Not having been to Paris for a while, herself and myself grabbed a
bargain offer and betook ourselves to the city of light for a short
break. We had no plan, no programme -- just to be in Paris would
suffice. So the reader need not look for an abbreviated guidebook
report. We have "done" a good deal of the standard stuff in the past,
and didn't feel a great urge to do most of them again. But Paris has
so much to offer that one can make a score of visits and still not
have hit all the major attractions.

I won't bore you with more complaints about sore feet. Let's just take
it as read that whenever herself and I visit a city we start out with
the intention of managing our walking so as to minimise attrition on
our feet, and are tempted into breaking our resolution on the first
day. And so it was again: feet wrecked. What did we get for our pains?

The smell of food:
Among our new experiences was a stroll along Rue Mouffetard on Sunday
morning, savouring the aromas of the foodstuffs on sale: fresh bread;
cheeses; exotic fruits; charcuterie; herbs and spices. And further up
the street, the smell of cooking as the restaurants prepared lunch.
Yet again, as we so often do in cities, we wondered if we would have
been better off renting an apartment so that we could do some catering
for ourselves: I find it difficult to visit wonderful food markets and
know that there is no point in getting involved with the produce on
sale. Next time...

The Pantheon:
For whatever reason, we had never visited the Pantheon before, so we
made good that deficiency. It is impressively vast, and far more like
a church than the secular building which it is purported to be (of
course, it was built as a church and served as one at various times).
It is now maintained as a national memorial to many of the great
figures of politics, the military, philosophy, science, and the arts.
It seemed fitting, given the turmoil of the French revolution, that
two leading figures of those troubled times (Mirabeau and Marat) had
been interred there and later evicted. The crypt is worth an hour of
anybody's time -- especially on a very hot day.

Parks:
The parks of Paris are special -- not just the great and renowned ones
such as the Jardin desTuileries and the Jardin du Luxembourg, but also
many others, including (perhaps especially) the "pocket parks" which
dot the city. They are oases of green which lighten the city, and
where one can sit, relax, and observe life, be it the swarming of
tourists in the major parks or aspects of the ordinary life of
Parisians in the neighbourhood parks.

The Louv
Of course.

Paris Plage:
This was our first experience of this innovation -- a beach resort in
an inland city. Work on setting it up was still in progress, but
people were already exploiting as much as possible. When I first heard
of the idea of taking a major traffic thoroughfare and converting it
to a beach-style resort, I thought it seemed a daft idea. Now I think
it is not. It's a proper affirmation that cities are for all kinds of
people, and not just those in motor vehicles.

Music:
Paris has a lot of bad buskers and some superb ones. A five-piece jazz
band, average age easily 60, on Rue Mouffetard was well worth
listening to. So too was a seven-man outfit on Pont St. Louis (the
bridge connecting Ile de la Cité with Ile St. Louis, one of the best
locations in Paris for good public entertainment). Less appealing are
those buskers who invade Métro carriages and force themselves on
travellers, and who are often not very good.

Traffic:
On previous visits, I had formed the impression that drivers in Paris
are aggressive, and that a green pedestrian light at a crossing should
be regarded as an invitation to dice with death. This time, however,
things seemed easier. Nearly all drivers seemed to respect our right
to use the crossings; the only exceptions were, to my surprise,
professional drivers, one in a taxi, and the other in a tour minibus.
Obviously, on a short visit, it is impossible to make an informed
judgement on whether there has been a real improvement, but it
certainly seemed so.

Pavement hazards:
Paris has had, deservedly, a bad reputation for dog-fouled pavements.
Various efforts have been made to address the problem and it seems to
me that they have been paying off. But now pedestrians in Paris must
live with a greater nuisance than the danger of stepping in canine
faeces. The new hazard is the roller-blader who moves swiftly and
silently, seems incapable of stopping, unwilling to concede ground to
others, and can arrive from any angle without warning. Roller-bladers
often travel in pairs or groups, and can present a frightening
spectacle. Never change direction on a Paris pavement without first
looking behind you.

Speaking English:
It is often said that the French, particularly Parisians, either can
not or will not speak English. This seems to have changed. Both
herself and I speak French moderately well, albeit not quite fluently.
In our hotel, in restaurants, in cafés, and in shops we found that
almost everybody with whom we dealt switched into English even when it
was clear that our command of French was sufficient for the purpose,
and where sometimes their English was less good than our French. So
the new complaint seems to be that the bloody Parisians won't speak
French.

More later.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Many thanks for your report.
I am French and live 500 Km south from Paris. It is to say that I am also a
Tourist when in Paris.
The only difference is the I don't need to speak English : )

Pavement hazards:

Excellent ! I remember how angry I was visiting the Citée with all this
problems.
I was so angry that I could not enjoy this visit.
After the attempt to eliminate the canine faeces with a batallion of
Moto-Crottes ( Very bad idea since it was like an invitation for the dog to
do what they have to do, since the Moto will come after) the Municipality
took the right decision : Fine !

Traffic:
Thanks to a very strick application of the law, responsibles going to jail,
the French now are very very disciplinate.
If you hit a pedestrian with your car, you are now in great trouble in
France.

Paris Plage:
I never saw Paris Plage. But my city here will open the same concept next
week. I believe that very soon we will have 'City-Plage' in all the main
french cities.

Two place I like to visit in paris
1 - Musée Rodin near the Invallides
2 - The Musée Marmottan, 2 rue Louis-Boilly in the 16th
with a great Impressonist recollection ( mainly Monet) and First Empire
recollection

"Padraig Breathnach" wrote in message
...
Not having been to Paris for a while, herself and myself grabbed a
bargain offer and betook ourselves to the city of light for a short
break. We had no plan, no programme -- just to be in Paris would
suffice. So the reader need not look for an abbreviated guidebook
report. We have "done" a good deal of the standard stuff in the past,
and didn't feel a great urge to do most of them again. But Paris has
so much to offer that one can make a score of visits and still not
have hit all the major attractions.

I won't bore you with more complaints about sore feet. Let's just take
it as read that whenever herself and I visit a city we start out with
the intention of managing our walking so as to minimise attrition on
our feet, and are tempted into breaking our resolution on the first
day. And so it was again: feet wrecked. What did we get for our pains?

The smell of food:
Among our new experiences was a stroll along Rue Mouffetard on Sunday
morning, savouring the aromas of the foodstuffs on sale: fresh bread;
cheeses; exotic fruits; charcuterie; herbs and spices. And further up
the street, the smell of cooking as the restaurants prepared lunch.
Yet again, as we so often do in cities, we wondered if we would have
been better off renting an apartment so that we could do some catering
for ourselves: I find it difficult to visit wonderful food markets and
know that there is no point in getting involved with the produce on
sale. Next time...

The Pantheon:
For whatever reason, we had never visited the Pantheon before, so we
made good that deficiency. It is impressively vast, and far more like
a church than the secular building which it is purported to be (of
course, it was built as a church and served as one at various times).
It is now maintained as a national memorial to many of the great
figures of politics, the military, philosophy, science, and the arts.
It seemed fitting, given the turmoil of the French revolution, that
two leading figures of those troubled times (Mirabeau and Marat) had
been interred there and later evicted. The crypt is worth an hour of
anybody's time -- especially on a very hot day.

Parks:
The parks of Paris are special -- not just the great and renowned ones
such as the Jardin desTuileries and the Jardin du Luxembourg, but also
many others, including (perhaps especially) the "pocket parks" which
dot the city. They are oases of green which lighten the city, and
where one can sit, relax, and observe life, be it the swarming of
tourists in the major parks or aspects of the ordinary life of
Parisians in the neighbourhood parks.

The Louv
Of course.

Paris Plage:
This was our first experience of this innovation -- a beach resort in
an inland city. Work on setting it up was still in progress, but
people were already exploiting as much as possible. When I first heard
of the idea of taking a major traffic thoroughfare and converting it
to a beach-style resort, I thought it seemed a daft idea. Now I think
it is not. It's a proper affirmation that cities are for all kinds of
people, and not just those in motor vehicles.

Music:
Paris has a lot of bad buskers and some superb ones. A five-piece jazz
band, average age easily 60, on Rue Mouffetard was well worth
listening to. So too was a seven-man outfit on Pont St. Louis (the
bridge connecting Ile de la Cité with Ile St. Louis, one of the best
locations in Paris for good public entertainment). Less appealing are
those buskers who invade Métro carriages and force themselves on
travellers, and who are often not very good.

Traffic:
On previous visits, I had formed the impression that drivers in Paris
are aggressive, and that a green pedestrian light at a crossing should
be regarded as an invitation to dice with death. This time, however,
things seemed easier. Nearly all drivers seemed to respect our right
to use the crossings; the only exceptions were, to my surprise,
professional drivers, one in a taxi, and the other in a tour minibus.
Obviously, on a short visit, it is impossible to make an informed
judgement on whether there has been a real improvement, but it
certainly seemed so.

Pavement hazards:
Paris has had, deservedly, a bad reputation for dog-fouled pavements.
Various efforts have been made to address the problem and it seems to
me that they have been paying off. But now pedestrians in Paris must
live with a greater nuisance than the danger of stepping in canine
faeces. The new hazard is the roller-blader who moves swiftly and
silently, seems incapable of stopping, unwilling to concede ground to
others, and can arrive from any angle without warning. Roller-bladers
often travel in pairs or groups, and can present a frightening
spectacle. Never change direction on a Paris pavement without first
looking behind you.

Speaking English:
It is often said that the French, particularly Parisians, either can
not or will not speak English. This seems to have changed. Both
herself and I speak French moderately well, albeit not quite fluently.
In our hotel, in restaurants, in cafés, and in shops we found that
almost everybody with whom we dealt switched into English even when it
was clear that our command of French was sufficient for the purpose,
and where sometimes their English was less good than our French. So
the new complaint seems to be that the bloody Parisians won't speak
French.

More later.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Himself and I took ourselves off to Paris for the month of October and
stayed in a friend's apartment. Incredible food aromas, the sight of
beautiful fruits and vegetables and the desire to lay hands on made our stay
all the more enjoyable. We cooked ourselves silly, following visits to
semiweekly markets and shops and ended up eating probably half our dinners
at "home".
We bought weekly editions of Pariscope, a detailed accounting of all films,
including original and translated language, musical events, museum showings,
etc. and attended several small recitals. We were impressed with some of
the television offerings - several channels with book or topic discussions,
two channels with musicians performing classical music, and of course old
black and white French film classics.
Nice! Thanks for your comments.
Carol L
"Padraig Breathnach" wrote in message
...
Not having been to Paris for a while, herself and myself grabbed a
bargain offer and betook ourselves to the city of light for a short
break. We had no plan, no programme -- just to be in Paris would
suffice. So the reader need not look for an abbreviated guidebook
report. We have "done" a good deal of the standard stuff in the past,
and didn't feel a great urge to do most of them again. But Paris has
so much to offer that one can make a score of visits and still not
have hit all the major attractions.

I won't bore you with more complaints about sore feet. Let's just take
it as read that whenever herself and I visit a city we start out with
the intention of managing our walking so as to minimise attrition on
our feet, and are tempted into breaking our resolution on the first
day. And so it was again: feet wrecked. What did we get for our pains?

The smell of food:
Among our new experiences was a stroll along Rue Mouffetard on Sunday
morning, savouring the aromas of the foodstuffs on sale: fresh bread;
cheeses; exotic fruits; charcuterie; herbs and spices. And further up
the street, the smell of cooking as the restaurants prepared lunch.
Yet again, as we so often do in cities, we wondered if we would have
been better off renting an apartment so that we could do some catering
for ourselves: I find it difficult to visit wonderful food markets and
know that there is no point in getting involved with the produce on
sale. Next time...

The Pantheon:
For whatever reason, we had never visited the Pantheon before, so we
made good that deficiency. It is impressively vast, and far more like
a church than the secular building which it is purported to be (of
course, it was built as a church and served as one at various times).
It is now maintained as a national memorial to many of the great
figures of politics, the military, philosophy, science, and the arts.
It seemed fitting, given the turmoil of the French revolution, that
two leading figures of those troubled times (Mirabeau and Marat) had
been interred there and later evicted. The crypt is worth an hour of
anybody's time -- especially on a very hot day.

Parks:
The parks of Paris are special -- not just the great and renowned ones
such as the Jardin desTuileries and the Jardin du Luxembourg, but also
many others, including (perhaps especially) the "pocket parks" which
dot the city. They are oases of green which lighten the city, and
where one can sit, relax, and observe life, be it the swarming of
tourists in the major parks or aspects of the ordinary life of
Parisians in the neighbourhood parks.

The Louv
Of course.

Paris Plage:
This was our first experience of this innovation -- a beach resort in
an inland city. Work on setting it up was still in progress, but
people were already exploiting as much as possible. When I first heard
of the idea of taking a major traffic thoroughfare and converting it
to a beach-style resort, I thought it seemed a daft idea. Now I think
it is not. It's a proper affirmation that cities are for all kinds of
people, and not just those in motor vehicles.

Music:
Paris has a lot of bad buskers and some superb ones. A five-piece jazz
band, average age easily 60, on Rue Mouffetard was well worth
listening to. So too was a seven-man outfit on Pont St. Louis (the
bridge connecting Ile de la Cité with Ile St. Louis, one of the best
locations in Paris for good public entertainment). Less appealing are
those buskers who invade Métro carriages and force themselves on
travellers, and who are often not very good.

Traffic:
On previous visits, I had formed the impression that drivers in Paris
are aggressive, and that a green pedestrian light at a crossing should
be regarded as an invitation to dice with death. This time, however,
things seemed easier. Nearly all drivers seemed to respect our right
to use the crossings; the only exceptions were, to my surprise,
professional drivers, one in a taxi, and the other in a tour minibus.
Obviously, on a short visit, it is impossible to make an informed
judgement on whether there has been a real improvement, but it
certainly seemed so.

Pavement hazards:
Paris has had, deservedly, a bad reputation for dog-fouled pavements.
Various efforts have been made to address the problem and it seems to
me that they have been paying off. But now pedestrians in Paris must
live with a greater nuisance than the danger of stepping in canine
faeces. The new hazard is the roller-blader who moves swiftly and
silently, seems incapable of stopping, unwilling to concede ground to
others, and can arrive from any angle without warning. Roller-bladers
often travel in pairs or groups, and can present a frightening
spectacle. Never change direction on a Paris pavement without first
looking behind you.

Speaking English:
It is often said that the French, particularly Parisians, either can
not or will not speak English. This seems to have changed. Both
herself and I speak French moderately well, albeit not quite fluently.
In our hotel, in restaurants, in cafés, and in shops we found that
almost everybody with whom we dealt switched into English even when it
was clear that our command of French was sufficient for the purpose,
and where sometimes their English was less good than our French. So
the new complaint seems to be that the bloody Parisians won't speak
French.

More later.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED