Got back last night from 10 days in Paris. Home is a very good place. Random thoughts on Paris and the trip.
I am heartily sick of baguettes. Not sure it says much about your culinary prowess if you can only seem to have one kind of bread for everything from sandwiches to dinner baskets. Blessed be the soft brown dinner roll.
Pieces of art can be celebrities too. Which means, they’re often famous just for being famous. Thinking specifically of the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Saw pieces that were far more amazing, yet those are the ones people crowd around. (To take pictures of. Not to actually look at or study, but take a picture of. Sheep.) The Venus definitely got her celebrity as the result of a propaganda campaign by the French. Just something about women of mystery, I suppose.
Statuary is awesome. So much of it in one space is overwhelming. Loved seeing it in public spaces like parks where it would have originally been placed.
The buildings are sometimes cooler than the artwork. Never forget to look up as you’re walking through the museums.
One of the places guidebooks take you to shop is along the Rue de Temple. Which is filled with import shops selling scarves and jewelry from China. Really? I can get that stuff at home, people.
There is no rush hour on the 1 on the Metro. It is sardine packed all the time. A little better if you move to the back of the train, but still full constantly.
Marshmallows are a fancy candy. Who knew?
My favorite things were the Army Museum (thank you for the English descriptions!), the Concierge and the view from Montmartre.
I had kidneys for the first time. Loved them. I tried an Andouillette sausage. Big mistake. (For the record, nothing like Andouile sausage. Nothing like American sausage in general, actually. I should have known better because I think they had to eat one of those on an Amazing Race stop once.)
First/Business class is the way to go. Although it was still nigh on impossible to sleep going over, the seats, the food, the movie selection made it bearable.
An apartment was the perfect choice over a hotel. And where we stayed in the Marais area was great. Really a neighborhood feel over a tourist feel. We like that.
It takes a lot of rain for the French to bother with an umbrella. We got used to that. Hard to walk on really narrow sidewalks with umbrellas.
Motorcycles and scooters galore! And lane-splitting a fact of life and a wee bit terrifying to watch. Rain, hail, cold – didn’t matter. They were out. Saw several with these cool … muffs would probably be the best way to describe them. They go over the grips and you stuff your hands inside to keep them warm. Gotta get some of those.
Overall, enjoyed our time there, although I’m not sure we’ll visit again. Sad about that because we decided against going to Versailles because of the time of year, but not sure it’s worth a separate trip. Still, as always, cool to see the world and how other people live in it.