As I wrote up my notes, I realized I was enjoying the Parisian lifestyle. Enjoying wandering its old, narrow streets, or the broad boulevards lined with trees, its river with its islands, slowly being recognized as a regular at our local Intermarche.
I’ll always remember the school kids running around on lunch break in one of the city parks or sailing the small boats on the pond in Luxembourg Gardens; the local people returning from the Lozere market carrying baskets or pulling their wheeled carts; the train beggars, and street buskers; the way people stop and relax in the cafes.
For us, life in France is life as it’s supposed to be lived. I’ve tried to put my finger on what makes this true, exactly. What is it about France that draws us back? That also attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year?
Is it the wonderful food and long leisurely meals? The best wines in the world? The infectious ‘joie de vivre’, and the ability to relax, to stop and smell the roses (or perhaps here, the cheese!)? That a rich tradition and culture matter to the French? Or that I am continually discovering new sights, new places to explore?
Whatever it is, it’s an experience to be savored. And we did.
SOME OF WHAT WE’LL MISS
—France’s wonderful bread. A daily way of life—find a ‘boulangerie’, queue for fresh bread, take it home to eat, or nibble as you walk.
—No tipping necessary in most places, as service charge is included in the price. What a pleasure not to have to deal with that whole question of how much, and knowing that the wait person is dependent on extra tips because they are so poorly paid in USA.
–Tax included in price of all goods and services. So, much easier to budget and to know before you buy exactly what the price is.
–Riding the Trains. The rhythm and predictability of the trains (except in strikes!).
–The freedom to get on a train and go practically anywhere, with connections. It’s been very liberating not to have a car, actually.
–My personal freedom to come and go every day, to explore at will, to get to know this city in depth. It’s a great privilege and I mostly used it well. But, I didn’t/couldn’t cover everything and I wish I’d had more energy to get out EVERY day. But, it’s true that some down-time is also important.
–Station ads, on platforms, and in the long connecting corridors. Bright and instructional. Always changing. Do they have an army of workers who get out at night to paste new ones on the boards?
–The free newspapers. Informative, and the language is about perfect for our level of reading French. Dailies like 20 Minutes, or ‘Matin Plus’. Weeklies like ‘A Nous Paris’.
—All the cafes, bars and bistros—the café lifestyle/culture. They are places to eat a meal, to snack, to meet friends, to have a coffee (and even linger all afternoon if you want), to have a drink, to read a book/magazine/newspaper. All ages are welcome and these places are so much more multi-purpose than any in the USA, where you tend to have to eat/drink and then move on. Many people here have a regular café and the staff get to know them—for example, at a café near Invalides an old lady shuffled in and the waiter automatically brought her a coffee.
—Good wine at very reasonable prices. All the different wines, so freely available. And the more prosaic and accepting attitude towards wine—it’s just accepted that wine is part of a meal. It’s not a case of “shall we have wine with our meal?”, but “which wine shall we have?” The pairing of food and wine is also very important.
—Good food, both in the little speciality shops and markets, and at cafes or restaurants. It’s a gastronomic heaven.
—The bustling, colorful markets with every imaginable fish, cheese, ‘volaille’ (poultry), sausage, fruit, vegetable, or flower.
—The big shops, like BHV, Printemps, and Bon Marche. A fun counterpoint to all the little shops, and full of high quality goods. Paris is a center of high quality—food, fashion, perfume, jewellery. For ordinary folks like us it’s an opportunity to see (and touch) some of these shopping icons.
—The presence of history wherever you wander. It’s part and parcel of the character of the city, but history is not heavy here. It doesn’t weigh the city down—is just THERE, part of a continuum from millennia ago.
—Smaller personal space and physical touching. Americans tend to have a large personal space around them, and if you happen to be a “touchy-feely” person it can be tough. Here we soon get used to the greeting of 2 or 3 kisses on the cheeks.
—Free art exhibitions all around the city. Some large and well-advertised, some that I stumble on by chance.
—The river. The Seine winds through the city and is so much a part of its character and its charm.
—all the parks, big and little, and other green spaces, like large woods, and small gardens, with an amazing number of trees all over the city. All the parks are well-used, no matter the weather or season. People here are used to getting out to do things, and don’t stay indoors as much.
—All the walking, as a way of life, which follows from the above.
—For Rod: the slower pace at work, and the running, which is more varied than in Illinois and a nice feature at work at lunch time.
–the huge variety of scarves, so tastefully worn by almost everyone. The ease with which local people appear to be chic.
OR NOT…
—Watching for dog poop along the pavements, or sidewalks (in some places)
—Train strikes
—Crowds in the city, especially at the Louvre and Versailles
