Tomorrow I'm leaving Paris on the train to Spain. I have grown quite found of this city. It reminds me strongly of a European San Francisco with it's obsession with food (or maybe my obsession), mass transit system, plentiful cars, crowded streets, and diverse neighborhood.
I've been out exploring the city like a madwomen. There are a ton of huge parks that one can get lost in. They all have fancy statues and some neat big old building. i went to an underground shopping center today and bought myself a girlie perfume called, of all names, Dolly Girl. It smells milder than it sounds. Think subtle grapefruit. Yum. On top of the underground shopping center is a huge park (Des Halles) and a mammoth stone church. I happen to be there during lunch time, when everyone poured out into the park to eat in the fresh air. Paris pretty much closes down from 12-4 for a big time lunch break. I ate lunch (falafel, if you can believe it) and listened to a man talk, well actually yell to his friends. He had this funny looking dog with dreadlocks that would bark at people and would laugh when they jumped. The dog wasn't ferocious, but it sure did surprise folks. Last night we went to Chinatown and had the best Pho (Vietnamese soups). This was the best thing Išve had here so far. It kicked but on the Pho places Išve been in SF. (Look for this restaurant review on my website next month.) It was getting late, so after dinner we headed home for sleeping time. A factiod about my sleeping pattern... i have been going to bed at 1:00am and waking up at 9:30 am. Quite luxurious. It's easy to go to bed so late when the sun doesn't set until 10:30, then its still light until nearly 11:00. I want to give props to the Metro in Paris. They have got it organized. Following is my little tale of life on the Metro. THE METRO When i got to Paris, my friend Brisa handed me a packet of 15 metro tickets. i could now self propel around Pairs underground. A quick study of the Metro map and a few trips on it were all it took to get oriented. Soon i realized that the Metro goes EVERYWHERE. It is not possible to be more than a few blocks away from a Metro stop while in Paris. In fact the city has set it up so that there is a stop every 5 minute walk. What this means is you can never get too lost. If you forget where you got on the Metro, don't worry, keep walking cause your sure to find another stop soon. Besides being readily available, you almost never have to wait for it. If it takes longer then 2 minutes for a train to come, you see people pacing and squirming. Imagine stops everywhere around the city, and never waiting more than 3 minutes. San Francisco definitely has something to learn here!!! Hot, scorching devil world hot, is what you should expect when entering a station. Once you go inside the trains, bump it up another 10 degrees. Sweat pours off of everyone, as you are squished into the train. Most seats are facing each other. So you have two seats side by side, facing another two seats side by side. I bumped many knees of the person across from me. It is a very intimate environment, but everyone is nearly silent, mostly reading or avoiding eye contact. Sometimes, people get on and make some music to liven things up (well they're really doing it to make money). Young gypsy boys rapping in a gypsy dialect with his bomb box and microphone, Crazy old French men singing and playing accordion, and then there was even a combo of both... French rap with accordion (that was a definite first for me). I adore the Metro. During my last few weeks in Paris, it has taken me faithfully to all my desired destinations.