Daniel has kindly given me some space on Delta Tango Bravo to contribute some of my own thoughts and ideas and, having just moved to Paris a few weeks ago, I think I'll start there. I've visited Paris twice before, but have never stayed more than a few days - hardly enough time to really take in the life of such a city. While it's still only the beginning of my third week here (as part of an eight-month visit), just having an apartment and doing 'everyday' activities has begun to reveal some of the subtleties of Parisian day-to-day life that are so captivating.
For one, markets are amazing. Living in Montmartre, we have a couple of fresh-produce markets to choose from and they're all amazing. I can fill up my 'caddie' with beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables for less than 10 euros, including beautiful blood oranges, fresh basil, and organic pineapples. The markets are loud and busy with bustling old women with their baskets and stall-owners barking out bargains - all of which creates a great atmosphere.
Food is art. While this certainly isn't something unexpected with Paris being so famous for its food, the pervasiveness of carefully crafted cuisine is wonderful. At the local cheese shop I decided to sample one of their cheaper gourmet cheeses and discovered that it came wrapped in autumn leaves and the boulangeries live up to their myth-status with éclairs, five kinds of baguettes, and buttery croissants.
I think the most remarkable thing I've witnessed in the last couple weeks though is the way children and adults coexist. This might sound like an odd thing to say, but the relationship between children on the street and adults walking by is remarkable. Young kids play football, booting the ball into older businessmen who just laugh and boot the ball back, or just ignore them. A kid careened on a skateboard into an old woman who stopped to help him back up. I've seen this sort of thing happen several times. The children are never scolded or warned, and they play with a boldness in public that's surprising. There's a respect for children and for play that I've rarely seen before. Perhaps it's because the city is so large with so many people packed tightly together that mutual respect is necessary. But I think there's something more to it - a sensitivity you don't see in other large cities in other countries.
Comments
Sebastien B. - September 14, 2004 12:59 pm
That's how it starts: fresh vegetables, lovely croissants and exotic cheeses. Then pretty soon it's people smoking everywhere, bus strikes every other week, dog shit on sidewalks, and endless expressions of cultural superiority. It gets old pretty quickly.
Lee - September 14, 2004 3:20 pm
I moved to France about 3 years ago and your right people here treat kids great. People are just more respectful of each other and have time for hello, goodbye and thankyou's. As for smoking, buses and dogs all that's true as well, but it's changing.
Alan - September 19, 2004 10:56 pm
I was in 1986, wandering around Paris with pals for a month. One evening on the way to dinner, I stepped in dog shit four times in the dusk. The canine manure problem was immense even though the City had hired teams of dog shit sucking vacuum motorcyclists with a nozzle arm attached to the front wheel forks. The cheapness of decent wine made up for <i>tout les poos</i>.
Beudeum - September 23, 2004 9:24 pm
Hello,
I am french and I have been living in Paris since five years from now.
For me, the magic of this city is that you can walk any direction from Notre-Dame and meet fabulous monuments full of history at every corner. Champs-de-Mars, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysées, Montmartre, le Louvre, Notre-Dame are some of the places you'll never forget. Paris is not anymore representative of an old smoking man with a beret carrying a baguette and a camembert. People here are living like in all occidental big cities with only some particular details. Market places everywhere everyday is a comon thing to us, as the diversity of cheeses, all the bakery stuff, culinary specialties from many parts of the country.
Dog poos are not anymore a big deal, I remember walking in the street without looking at the sky, afraid to sleep into big... yonowat, but now walkways are cleaned twice a day. It's true that smoking people is a constant nightmare, you cannot spend one hour at a cafe without washing your clothes when you get back home, sometimes it happens at some working places, even with laws voted against smoking in public places. One very bad point is vehicule behavior, compared to USA (I admire that), crossing the street in Paris puts your life in real danger. Even if Paris has small streets everywhere, where you would naturally slow down, drivers ride like crazy late killers. Ending with the tiny place I'm living in, for a high price, getting higher every year, the problems of pollution due to cars in summer, the lack of recycling dishes organisation in the city (unlike in the rest of the country) and you have a full description of the paint.
Anyway, all this is not enough to make me go away for the moment as the magic feeling I talked about sooner carries me everyday.
Come here for a week-end or a week, watch your steps, don't rent a car, and you'll really enjoy the wonder(s) of this place.