This strange obsession with Paris...
May 27th, 2002, 02:26 PM
#82
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to:Mike Sullivan re:tour of the Egouts(sewers) of Paris. I had visited them while a student living in Paris 32 years ago. We entered from one of the province monuments in the Place de la Concorde. It was open something like every third Thursday of every month if it had not recently rained as they would be flooded. We walked underground from the Place de la Concorde up to the Madeleine. I really enjoyed it then. Last month, my husband and I visited the Egouts Museum by the Pont d'Alma. Not the same tour at all. It stunk to high heaven. You really had to fight off the desire to vomit at every turn. And this was in early April when it was chilly out. I would hate to try it in the summer. Your wife has the right idea.
May 27th, 2002, 03:59 PM
#84
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"I know that all human beings are deeply affected by what we read and what we see in films and on television..." I think that is your underlying question, Ubermench. Why do we become so obsessed by what we read or see? Why is a particular snatch of song or a scent or a photograph so evocative? A<BR><BR>Unlike some cities that had the misfortune of being bombed in WWII, Paris in many places looks not so unlike photographs of it taken at the turn of the 19th/20th century...maybe that helps give it a sense of timelessness to some, I don't know.<BR><BR>
May 27th, 2002, 04:55 PM
#85
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Can't believe how rabid some of you get about the things that make Paris what it is. Yes, there's dog poo on the sidewalk...just like in most cities of the world. And yes, they actually have tightened up their laws about pooper scooping but it's going to take time to make any changes. Hey, in all my visits to Paris I've only stepped in it once. As to dogs in restaurants, yes they are allowed...I've even seen them sitting on a chair looking up over the edge of a table waiting for their little treat. And there's the smoking everywhere you go and the "attitude" you sometimes encounter. But that's what makes Paris DIFFERENT from somewhere else. As to people complaining about the lack of English, every tourist destination I visited had pamphlets in several languages (just look for the one with the Union Jack for English) available. As for the criticism of the Montrealer's French...the people of Quebec do speak French differently than those of France. I live in Toronto and can tell a Quebecois accent from a French accent. Yes, there are wackos on the subway and people soliciting money there and on the street..Many of them are gypsies; they "borrow" babies so they seem more needy. But on visits to New York I got sick of the homeless in all the doorways and the panhandlers there. My point; every city has its positives and its negatives. And as to the debate on dress, dress with respect for whatever city you are visiting. Yes, I want to be comfortable when I travel but I also want to make a good impression as a tourist in someone else's country so that when people ask where I'm from and I say Canada then I project a positive image of Canadians abroad.
May 27th, 2002, 06:44 PM
#86
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Go to Paris, and love it! Wonderful museums, wonderful food - best city in the world for just wandering and exploring. I just got back for a 10-day trip, and yes, I saw dog poop,but things have improved since my previous visits -the new "pooper scooper" law may be getting results; I even saw people picking up. <BR><BR>One of the charms of Paris, to me, are the beautiful, well-behaved dogs all over the place - and I love them in the restaurants! One of my most memorable scenes from this recent visit is of an elderly Frenchman and his beautiful, long-haired calico cat, both sitting at a cafe table near mine on the Boulevard Montparnasse. It was difficult to tell who was enjoying the activity the most, the cat, the man - or me! That adorable scene is etched in my memory.
Jan 13th, 2003, 09:47 AM
#87
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The way a tourist dresses says EVERYTHING about that tourist. If you travel because you want to see a museum or a cathedral, you might not care what you wear. And that's great.<BR><BR>Me? Part of why I travel is to PRETEND I'm living a different life. Part of the act is dressing as a local, to try to mesh with the crowd and blend in.<BR><BR>So, when people on this board say "No one should care what people wear, screw 'em if they don't like it," well, for me, looking like an American tourist just ruins the whole experience.<BR><BR>
Feb 27th, 2005, 12:44 PM
#89
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Well, I confess I haven't read through this thread, but I must take strong exception to one thought at the very top, that Paris isn't "particularly diverse." To the contrary, it's highly diverse outside the "museum" arrondissements. Step outside those single-digit arrondissements, particularly on the east side and see for yourself. It's a mutinational, mutitethnic delight!
Feb 27th, 2005, 01:01 PM
#92
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Paris sera toujours Paris, no matter what! I was always treated kindly and have made true friendship with some Parisiens. As a French-Canadian I can assure you that I am always well understood in France, that fellow from Montreal must have been a real peasant.
Feb 27th, 2005, 01:10 PM
#93
"Every spring I fall in love with the same woman,
and it happens the same way every time.
After work at the typewriter, I take a walk in the sun, and there she is,
as striking as ever, and there I am,
struck dumb as Dante seeing Beatrice.
So Thackery's hero fell in love at the Louvre with a woman standing there,
silent and majestic, her hair light and her eyes gray, looking thirty-two but
born 2000 years ago. Her name was
Venus de Milo.
For me it is Paris."
...joseph barry
and it happens the same way every time.
After work at the typewriter, I take a walk in the sun, and there she is,
as striking as ever, and there I am,
struck dumb as Dante seeing Beatrice.
So Thackery's hero fell in love at the Louvre with a woman standing there,
silent and majestic, her hair light and her eyes gray, looking thirty-two but
born 2000 years ago. Her name was
Venus de Milo.
For me it is Paris."
...joseph barry
Feb 27th, 2005, 01:22 PM
#95
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Ira,
If Paris provides it, that's good and I'm glad. But Paris whole is otherwise, I believe, and richer for all of its population -- from all over the world just as it's richer for all of the people from all over the world who visit it and love it.
If Paris provides it, that's good and I'm glad. But Paris whole is otherwise, I believe, and richer for all of its population -- from all over the world just as it's richer for all of the people from all over the world who visit it and love it.
