Nothing like being in four countries in ten hours! Not to mention, using every mode of transportation in that same time span ... the only thing I didn’t do to get here was portage a canoe!
Kigali, Nairobi, Brussels ... high speed train to Paris, metro to the hotel ... and finally, the City of Light and my lovely child bride. So great to see Jane, who was waiting for me in our very boutiquey room with café creme, croissants, Ladurée macarons, confitures, and all the trimmings. The sun was out full force, we relaxed and caught up on the week’s events, and just hung out (hotel: total modern design, very hip, very cool, and thankfully, VERY air conditioned!). How could I have been dressed in working clothes in equatorial Africa and been perfectly comfortable, and here in northern Europe we’re in a deep schvitz?
We finally left the hotel, and starting strolling the familiar streets. What a magnificent day, and our location is perfect - just off the Canal St. Martin, close to the Bastille. Jane really took advantage of her time alone on Saturday before my arrival - intensive stroll, two hour lunch at la Frommagerie 31 (wine, cheese, and a political discussion of American foreign policy with a Norwegian and Spaniard - good for her!). I’m happy that she had a chance to do this ... a little solitude can be very refreshing (beyond going to the dry cleaners or Stop and Shop to pick up our prescriptions!).
We had only made it a short distance when we came across a perfectly aligned row of gray bicycles ... Jane had happened to see a story on BBC before I arrived yesterday about said ‘velos’. The City of Paris government had purchased 10,000 of these bikes and installed them in groups, every 300 metres, around the city (700 locations). Yesterday, 15 July, was to be their first operational day, and guess who took availed themselves of this opportunity??? The rental fee is apparently 1 euro for the day, and you can return them to any point in the city. The concept is that ordinary Parisians will use them to get to work and run errands, thereby reducing carbon emissions, traffic, noise, etc.. Very smart, oui?
We were literally mobbed everywhere we went ... where did you get the velos? Are they heavy? How much? People were incredibly friendly and warm, and as they day wore on, literally thousands of people had taken to this new, very clever feature of Paris (we can’t even get a public toilet on the streets of New York!!!). What a day! We rode all the way up the Canal St. Martin to the MK2 Cinemas - our favorite Parisian haunt to watch a foreign movie. We got the schedule, and as it was 90 degrees, sat down for - you guessed it - the obligatory bottle of wine and green salad ... people were out, we were sitting and water’s edge, and Jane and I went intensively over Rwandese culture and politics.
We continued our journey past Montmartre, getting stopped and interviewed every few minutes. What a great spirit the city had - a real summertime feeling. Admittedly, it is very strange to be here without the kids - the last five visits have been with them - and quite frankly, lovely for Jane and I as a couple! We wheeled on, past the Louvre, Tuileries, and into St. Germain des Pres for gelato at this great place in the Buci market. It was mobbed! Jane went to fetch the ice cream, I hung out and chatted with our friends David-Alexandre and Aurelie, who happen to be in Venice right now. They are a fun French couple who we met in India last year, and although they are Parisians, they are now living in Morocco for work (he is with a multinational company). We missed seeing them in February when we were in North Africa, and we realized a couple of weeks ago that we would overlap in Paris - for today only! We arranged to have dinner with them this evening, either at their home in Neuilly-sur-Seine or at a bistro in town.
We sped quickly from the mob, past Invalides, along rue Cler, to the Champs de Mer and the ubiquitous Tour Eiffel - again, thousands of people laying on the grass, picnicking, relaxing ... amazing (think Central Park on a Sunday afternoon). Onto the quai Branly, past the new museum, and we were truly getting exhausted. We agreed it was either going to be our mutual demise, or cold ‘pressions’ (draught beers), foie gras, and a cheese plate! Off to Le Comptoir for an outdoor table, delicious food (as noted above), a tart tatin, very uncharacteristically (for us, at least) rude service (universally applied to both French and English clientele). Also, we had been here with the kids a while ago, and when Marlee ordered the cheese plate, I rudely dug in for a taste of the creamy yellow cheese in the center of the plate, shoved it in my mouth, only to discover I had ingested a huge glob of warm (yummy) butter. Guess what I did last night when our own cheese platter arrived! Oh well, some people never learn!
The city is filled with Americans, Spanish, Italians (I think there may be one or two Gaulists here too!). We sped over to MK2, bought tickets for the 10pm showing of Bubble, a new Israeli movie (great), and returned our bikes. We were planning to chain them to a pole, and when the movie ticketer saw us do this, he said we should return them at the drop around the corner. He told us it was silly to pay for the bikes if we weren’t using them, but we replied that since they were only 1 euro per day, it was no big deal - to which he replied that was only the fee for ‘subscription’ - not the actual rental fee! See, read the fine print, even if it’s in French! We scurried off, as if we had seen a ghost, got rid of those damned bikes, paid our enormous ‘facture’, and went back to the theater. The movie was superb - loved it - and we highly recommend it!
It let out a midnight, we strolled past Notre Dame, Ile St. Louis, and arrived back ‘home’ - our room was mercifully freezing, and it was most welcome.
Jane sends hugs and kisses to all, as do I -
A bientot,
Harley
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