Monday, December 29, 2008

Paris 1: Ratatouille

I love Paris.

The train ride from London to Paris was very comfortable. We got to Paris in the morning, but figuring out the complicated-pee-smelling Metro took us ages. It took us more than an hour to get to our apartment. When the journey time technically should have been only 20 minutes. Moreover, they don't have escalators inside the subway stations so you have to take the stairs, when changing lines or exiting the station. But, God bless the French men they took my luggage from my hand and carried it up the stairs. I am totally touched by their chivalry.

I don't speak French, even though I took French lessons in Russia. But regardless of my lack of French, people are nice and very polite. And, here people think I am Arab. I get that in Canada too, but people don't get disappointed when I correct them. Man, I guess my parents made a mistake I should have either been born in an Arab country or France :). I am considering going back home learning French and moving to Quebec City :). But, the French coming up to me, only to ask whether I was Arabic, was a bit strange. If someone had done this to me in Canada I would have been majorly freaked out. I guess people are very curious here.

The apartment I am staying in is beautiful. It is clean and extremely gorgeous. The washroom is divided into two rooms/quarters. The first one only has a toilet. And, the second, right next door, has a shower and the washing basin. I know this sounds gross. I think the washing basin and the toilet should have been together in the same room. My neighbours are American expatriates, who are extremely nice. I think on this trip I would be thinking of Ernest Hemingway a lot.

One of the advantages of renting out an apartment here is that you can save money on food and cook at home. After walking around our neighbourhood we did some grocery shopping. I saw a cute little rat. See, I am on such a Paris-high that I even found the idea of a small fuzzy rat inside the grocery store cute. It reminded me of the Pixar movie, Ratatouille.

The chocolate tastes so good here. And, the flowers they were selling outside the grocery store were so pretty. They had pretty pink-purple gerberas. I absolutely love gerberas.

I can see why people call it the city of romance.

3 comments:

changetheworld360 said...

Great posts so far!
How ironic is it that I'm currently doing a project for French where I have to create a tour of Paris? Anyway, your post has given me a bit of inspiration as I set out to finish this project. :)

Maria Sondule said...

Gah, you learned some French in RUSSIA??? How many places have you been? Well, have fun in the city of romance; who knows, maybe you'll meet someone special....

Zany said...

changetheworld360,
Let me know if you need help. I made a very thorough itinerary for both Paris and London. The New York Times travel section is a good place to start. G'luck with the project and thanks for reading :). And a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Maria,
In Ontario (the province I am from) we are taught French in schools. But, most of us can't speak French, which is really sad. My dad made us get a French tutor in Russia, which clearly didn't pay off. But my sister can speak French so we are doing okay here =).

About meeting someone in France, you would have to read my New Year's post to find the answer :P. I am a day behind with my posts.