Nothing for the typical tourist
Dec 28th, 2012, 09:13 AM
#22
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Fascinating report, Kerouac ! Thank you.
Re. gentrifying, I've noticed that also some bits of the 17th arrondissement looked as if they were undergoing an active process of gentrification (or should I say re-gentrification ?)
Re. gentrifying, I've noticed that also some bits of the 17th arrondissement looked as if they were undergoing an active process of gentrification (or should I say re-gentrification ?)
Dec 28th, 2012, 10:14 AM
#23
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I haven't made a report about it yet, but those of you who are interested in this tramway business but don't want to go out to the suburbs should know that the T3 tramway opened a huge new section last week and now goes two thirds of the way around the city from Porte de la Chapelle to the Pont de Garigliano (you have to change at Porte de Vincennes because they cut the line in half, but it is super easy).
They have put all sorts of artworks along the line, some of which are super obvious and others that are very discreet. My favorites are at Porte d'Aubervillers where the modules of a merry-go-round have taken flight independently, Porte de Bagnolet where a light pole has mutated, and Porte de Pantin where huge ants walk along a luminous panel under the périphérique.
For those of you with time on your hands, I'll let you know when I have a T3 tramway report ready.
They have put all sorts of artworks along the line, some of which are super obvious and others that are very discreet. My favorites are at Porte d'Aubervillers where the modules of a merry-go-round have taken flight independently, Porte de Bagnolet where a light pole has mutated, and Porte de Pantin where huge ants walk along a luminous panel under the périphérique.
For those of you with time on your hands, I'll let you know when I have a T3 tramway report ready.
Dec 30th, 2012, 03:41 PM
#25
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Good pictures of ordinary scenes. But why would I want to spend thousands of dollars and waste my limited vacation time with a really uncomfortable overnight flight to see the sort of places that I could see in several cities within a couple of hundred miles of home?
Dec 30th, 2012, 04:00 PM
#26
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You wouldn't, sumrcr, unless you had already been to a place innumerable times and seen and done all the ordinary things, or just were unusually curious and inquiring. kerouac's adventures aren't for ordinary tourists; that's what makes them so intriguing. I, for one, don't think I'll ever go to Paris again without going to some new, unusual place he has talked about and photographed (same for FrenchMystiqueTours) - but I've been to Paris 100+ times and am always looking for new experiences. kerouac and others offer lots of those.
The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Michelin restaurants, Seine cruises, The Latin Quarter, etc., are not the only things Paris has to offer. For those of us who go back to Paris again and again, sometimes it's the "ordinary scenes" in places we're not familiar with that flesh out our relationship with that wonderful city. In a wonderful and insightful way.
There's more than loads of room on these forums for posts that deal with things other than the "main sites" of a city anywhere. If you don't want to "waste your time" with them, skip them. You're not the only kind of traveler out there, though you may be lumped with the majority.
The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Michelin restaurants, Seine cruises, The Latin Quarter, etc., are not the only things Paris has to offer. For those of us who go back to Paris again and again, sometimes it's the "ordinary scenes" in places we're not familiar with that flesh out our relationship with that wonderful city. In a wonderful and insightful way.
There's more than loads of room on these forums for posts that deal with things other than the "main sites" of a city anywhere. If you don't want to "waste your time" with them, skip them. You're not the only kind of traveler out there, though you may be lumped with the majority.
Dec 30th, 2012, 05:45 PM
#27
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Good point, StCirq, some travelers do fit the stereotype, but others are more nuanced. Some of us travel to escape the mundane, not sink back into it. Paris is great, yet parts of it are really like any other city. This is not a knock on kerouac at all; I find his reports very interesting, but they do not inspire me to leave my job, hop on a plane and spend my time and the last of my funds exploring the outskirts of Paris.There is a huge difference between living in the place and visiting it, as I have done only a couple of times, unfortunately. I hope to return to Paris in the near future, and when I do, I will go back to the parts of the city that drew me there in the first place. When central Paris loses its appeal, I will move on to other places on my bucket list.
Jan 1st, 2013, 02:09 AM
#29
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(May I state the obvious, sumrcr, and point out the title of this thread?)
I like seeing the overall picture of a place. Maybe being in France is making me feel even more revolutionary than usual, but it was the human variety in the northern suburbs that I found so compelling. The guys who had to get up super early and come sweep the streets, maybe, and the hotel maids. Veiled women squeezing strollers onto the tram. All sorts of smells.
And then St. Denis Basilica, where most French Kings and Queens from a millenium or so ago lie beneath recumbent marble statues of themselves. Even Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's bones were returned there.
I like seeing the overall picture of a place. Maybe being in France is making me feel even more revolutionary than usual, but it was the human variety in the northern suburbs that I found so compelling. The guys who had to get up super early and come sweep the streets, maybe, and the hotel maids. Veiled women squeezing strollers onto the tram. All sorts of smells.
And then St. Denis Basilica, where most French Kings and Queens from a millenium or so ago lie beneath recumbent marble statues of themselves. Even Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's bones were returned there.
