Paris

I arrived in Paris' Gare du Nord train station at 18:53 on Wednesday the 29th to Quentin and Laure's smiling faces. This time, however, I was more prepared and had written their phone numbers and address in my journal. As I followed them through the metro and city streets I found myself feeling relieved and comfortable, and then surprised at the extent of Paris' familiarity. I guess I had lived here for a semester, but during that time the elegant and almost mysterious city had always felt foreign. The act of returning is a powerful thing. It can make a foreign place familiar, or a familiar place new and exciting. Above are pictures from Quentin and Laure's beautiful apartment. The outdoor one is the view from their balcony. In person, the tops of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, and Sacre Couer are visible. That night, with a friend of Q & L's (Julie), we went out to dinner. The little place was packed and people still outside waiting when we finally got called in at 10:00 pm. My French feast included sangria and chocolate mousse.





The next morning we had a delicious French breakfast of croissants, baguette, sea salted butter, jam, juice, and tea. When we were ready to go Laure asked if I'd like to ride a bike in the city. I pictured chaotic Place de la Bastille and the Champs Elysees, angry French drivers swearing and yelling at me as I wobbled through the wrong parts of the intersections. "Um sure...!" I added: "maybe just on the smaller streets." Laure assured me that she wasn't that good on the bikes either and we could just follow Quentin. I assented and soon found myself pedaling happily down the small and big, quaint and beautiful Paris streets. We did not circle the Arc de Triomphe, but I did make my way though Place de la Republique like a pro. Paris has started a new program: a kind of car CityShare with bikes. For one Euro (the exchange rate is atrocious but that's still cheap) you can take out a very solid, three-gear, brand new bicylce as many times per day as you want, for half an hour at a time. If you want to keep it out longer it's still a great deal--something like one Euro per hour. There are around 200 stations around the city where you can take out or return bikes. We returned ours (making it in exactly half an hour), then ate a Turkish lunch and wandered the streets of the Marais, my favorite neighborhood.