Paris has had some bad press in the past few years. People told us it is not the beautiful, pristine, Disney-like, haughty, fashion-forward, gastronomic center-of-the-universe that it once was. Well they are wrong – it still is. The architecture is uniformly, uniquely Paris. It is still gorgeous; it is still clean. Food here is still center-of-the-universe. It is still the City the literary and artistic Giants of the 19th and 20th centuries flocked to: Hemingway, Victor Hugo, Thomas Mann, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Coco Chanel. All lived and created art here. The Louvre is still the Giant of all museums. And even without it, the City’s museums house an art collection to rival any other City.
True, Paris like all large cities makes home to indiferent, unhelpful, hurried residents. That part of the reputation is true, but it is true of London, New York too. And pickpockets. I was almost a victim. We were easy marks: two suitcases each and a backpack. Note to self, wear the backpack on my front in that situation. Someone was getting into my backpack while I was carrying the suitcases down a flight of stairs. It was a couple, middle aged (my age), real nicely dressed. When I confronted her, she acted like she accidentally touched me. Cool and composed she went back up the escalator, blending into the crowd without causing a stir.
Civil Unrest
We were in Paris during some of the Yellow Jacket demonstrations. We never saw it however. Saw tons of police activity though. At least 3 times, we saw at least 20 police van/personnel carriers, containing about 5-7 men, so at least 100 police. They were staging in riot gear. But we never saw any reason for it. Maybe they were practicing. The Yellow Jacket demonstrations are about a gas tax. In France, it is mandatory to carry a yellow safety jacket in every car. That is why they are wearing them to picket the tax. The tax got repealed. So then they picketed for an increase in minimum wage, they got that. So now they are demonstrating for Marcon to resign. Why? He’s the guy that gave in to the other big changes?
A Study of Neighborhoods
This visit of 4 nights in Paris, we did not visit any museum. Truth is, we are getting museumed out. And churched out and castled out. Instead we explored neighborhoods: Montmartre, Marais, Latin Quarter, Montparnasse. We spent time in all. We took tours led by locals in each. We’ve been here before and spent a day in the Louvre (true, we could spend a month there and still see something new), climbed the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, walked under the Arch de Triomphe. So this time we went in a different direction.
And it snowed. Fresh snow in Paris. How cool is that? Funny, we are museumed out, castled out, and churched out, but not weathered out – yet. Everyone tells us, it has been a mild winter. Nonetheless, we are thrilled with a little snow
We are heading to Brittany to house sit for a month near Chateaubriant.