Parking - Un Sport de Payee

Anyone visiting Paris will be amazed by the skill and expertise with which residents park in this city. There's no space too small or inaccessible for the determined. Parking is a creative activity where the sport seems to be in how many vehicles can fit on any given street. Here there seems to be pride in squeezing a car into a spot that requires 'kissing' the bumpers of the car in front or in back of you. Drivers sometimes require several minutes to maneuver into position holding up traffic on the narrow streets. It's surprising how patient people are, perhaps they identify with those parking! For anyone spotting a space, it's not unthinkable to witness them drive diagonally through traffic to secure the coveted spot! Pedestrians beware! It's no wonder that many sidewalks are lined with stanchions or poles to avoid assertive drivers pulling right up onto the sidewalks. Mind you, this doesn't seem to inhibit those with scooters or motorbikes. It is not uncommon to have to scramble to get out of the way of someone on a scooter on the sidewalk! Please look at the picture at the right. The flower pots are at the edge of the sidewalk. The yellow truck is driving in the road. The cars are parked on the sidewalk. The scooter is driving on the sidewalk. The woman with the baby carriage is trying to not get hit.

Believe it or not, they have traffic police in Paris who are supposed to give tickets for illegal parking. But we can not figure out when they ticket and why. We think these may be the same guys that issue tickets to those who fail to stoop and scoop! We have seen a car booted but we expect this is for extreme cases where a car has been left for a very long time blocking the road.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner...

Life in Paris has been a little different this year because each morning I go off for a French lesson leaving Paul sleeping in bed. In past years, our usual routine was for one of us to fetch the newspaper and morning ‘baguette’ while the other made coffee. Breakfast can be the pricey at a nice Café, so we like to do it ourselves. Compare the cost of an entire French bread (no more then 1.05 E.) with 17.50 E. for 2 cups of coffee and a baguette with butter and jam at a Café.

Here on the Island, a great spot for breakfast or a light meal any time of the day, is “Le Flore de L’Ile” located at the top of the street overlooking the Pont de Tournelle and the back of Notre Dame. It’s a wonderful place to watch people; and it seems to be a favorite kissing corner! The menu offers everything from a near perfect omelet, the French favorite, Berthillon ice cream and a great cup of tea or coffee. The food is fresh and served by friendly staff who bring your coffee with delicious dark chocolate kisses.

Le Flore en l'Ile

42, quai d'Orléans

Paris 2, France 75004

01 43 29 88 27

If you’ve had breakfast (especially at 10 o’clock) you really only need a little snack in the afternoon to tide you over to dinner. We love the comfort of a wine bar where you can sample a variety of vintages, share a plate of cheese and/or Charcuterie (sliced smoked meats) and soak up the atmosphere. We’ve been to several, but especially like a casual place called “Juveniles”. This tiny little spot has less then a dozen tables for 2 with wine crates stacked along the walls. Wines are available by the glass with selections from France, Australia and even California Zinfandels. They don’t serve any French cheeses, but the selection is good, the salads fresh and you can share tapas style meals that include sausages and smoked meats. We’ve found the food to be good, the prices reasonable and you can even carry off a bottle of wine. It’s the perfect way to end an afternoon.

Juvéniles

47, rue de Richelieu

Paris 1, France

01 42 97 46 49

Our favorite new dinner spot is Le Reminet, located within walking distance of our apartment. They require reservations and it’s buzzing each night. The service is slow even for French standards, but once you settle in with a bottle of wine it’s worth the wait. On our first visit, starters included roasted quail served on a bed of mixed greens (delicious) and a carrot soup which was tasty but not as good as the quail. For the main course, Paul opted for Perdreau (partridge, he’s very fowl lately!) which again was also roasted and served with turnip and a triangle of rosti potatoes that he had to fight me for! My fish fillet (mystery fish colcosse?) was beautifully prepared served with a light creamy sauce along side a creamy risotto and sautéed fennel. As usual, we skipped dessert but saw some incredible chocolate things, soufflés and poached figs that looked wonderful. They offered some interesting “vin do moment” and we enjoyed a nice Cote de Rhone.

Réminet

3, rue des Grands-Degrés

Paris 5, France

01 44 07 04 24

What's wrong (or right) with this picture

Christina and I have often written about how much we enjoy walking in Paris. This year, Chris brought a pedometer and she's averaging almost 5 miles a day. That sounds like a lot (it is) but what you may not realize is that half of that distance is because we often get lost going somewhere. For those used to a simple grid system, the 'snail' grid of Paris can be a nightmare.

If you look at the map of NYC on the left, you notice that the streets are neat and orderly. They basically follow a commonsense grid with Avenues going North and South and Streets going East and West. Normally, the streets start at one river and end at the other. The avenues continue to a logical end (water or a Park). There are exceptions in lower Manhattan but this is the general rule. The outer boroughs follow different rules but there are still rules.

The map at the right represents Paris. Streets are not in a grid, but converge in lovely squares with Cafes and parks. Only a few key streets traverse the city, usually following an arc rather than a straight line. Street names are assigned to commemorate people or events.

This might still be manageable if it wasn't that they've been doing this for 700 hundred years. As a result, in the Centre Ville area, streets change names every chance they get. It's rare for a local street to keep its name for more than a few blocks. And, unlike New York, where these commemorative names exist mostly as decorative signs under the "real" street sign, these names are the only names used. There are literally thousands of street names. The 'Plan de Paris' has a 148 PAGES. That's approximately 6,000 names! for a boy from NYC that's culture shock!

For two people as "directionally-challenged" as Christina and I, it's a nightmare. We each have a map (really a book - the "pocket version has 96 pages!). Even with a map we frequently get lost. One of the hardest lessons to learn is that, because the streets are at odd angles to each other, you can't "go around the corner". It may take you 500 meters away from where you were (1/3 of a mile) with no easy way back. We've noticed in recent years that even the cab drivers have GPS! As difficult as it is, after four years, we're getting to know our way around the neighbourhoods--at least the ones where we've stayed. Christina manages to get back and forth to school and the market without any problems (at least none that she's sharing with me)!

Being outside in Paris

Christina and I constantly talk about how Paris is an "outside" city like no other. People in Paris seem to use the out of doors as an extension of their inside living space; to meet friends, to eat, to walk, or just to sit and read the paper. The streets and parks are always crowded with people just being - at all hours of the day and into the night.

In New York, living in mid-town we walk to many places, and occasionally eat out when the weather's nice and the place attractive.

In Paris, the reverse is true, you eat outside, at Cafes and Brasseries all year long. They just turn on the heaters! Many small places extend their 'petit' indoor seating area to the out of doors to accomodate twice the numbers possible inside. Outdoor street markets can be found in many neighbourhoods on any given day of the week and there's live outdoor entertainment where ever a crowd might be found (often on selected streets which have been closed off during the weekend).

Here, there are many words to describe how you get about, from 'faire du jogging", to faire une promenade. No matter what the weather, people are out of doors, not only walking but riding their bikes, rollerblading (they close off many streets on Sunday just for this purpose), or strolling along the Boulevards, window shopping or in the many parks found throughout the city. Luxembourg Gardens is packed with families and individuals all day, 7 days a week. We often wonder 'whose minding the store' because it seems that nobody's working especially on a sunny day. Benches line Boulevards and streets and you can find comfortable, even reclining chairs in many of the larger parks. These chairs and benches are often on the periphery of the fountains, gardens and the grass. Here the 'Park Police' ensure that you don't sit on the grass except in small designated areas. Not only can you find places to sit, play or participate in a sport, a bonus is that there are an abundance of clean toilet facilities everywhere.

On Sundays, it seems that all of Paris is outdoors as they promenade up and down the street at selected spots (we don't know how they're selected). Ile Saint Louis is one of those spots. Six days a week it's loaded with tourists, but on Sunday the locals are out and take over the street and the line at the Berthillon ice cream shop often circles the block.

The bottom line is we've adapted and are outside more then in and have logged many miles so far.

Ah, Bread

A day without bread, at least here in Paris is, unthinkable. The French are completely fanatical about it - Parisian’s buy bread as often as three times a day; you can’t use the term boulangerie unless the bread conforms to specific criteria and is made on the premises and the varieties of baguettes alone can boggle the mind (with every term strictly regulated e.g ancienne, traditionelle, bio). No one ever eats day-old bread, or even left-overs from breakfast. Paul is in bread ‘seventh heaven’.

Morning, noon and night, men and women, young and old, head home with long loaves of bread. There’s no bag, instead, an expertly twisted square of paper is wrapped around the middle for you to hold. There are so many types of bread Chris usually looks at what’s available and points! We’ve had some wonderful surprises. Sometimes not, but there’s always tomorrow and another shop just around the corner!

Here on the Ile Saint Louis, we have three boulangeries within a couple of blocks of the apartment. Paul’s favorite bakery, named “Paul” is a little further, but I expect we’ll find ourselves there often. While they can’t claim the boulangerie description, the bread and pastries are exceptional and we just love their sandwiches for lunch – they understand that a sandwich is about the bread, not the filling.

Paul & Christina
September 28, 2006h

Is “dawdling” a word?

Earlier this week, Christina called me from the Metro station to say she was back from her cooking adventure and would be home in 10 minutes (its only 2 blocks). When she showed up 2 hours later, I asked what had happened. She replied that she was “dawdling” - and had discovered a beautiful courtyard in the building across the street; met the nicest woman with a cute dog; and bought me lunch.

The dictionary defines dawdle as “verb {I}. to do something or go somewhere very slowly, taking more time than is necessary:. -”. Under “usage” there is a small picture of Christina.

If an observer could watch Christina and I leave the apartment in the morning on our way to get breakfast she would see us leave the building holding hands and setting off firmly on the path to Bread and Roses. What she couldn’t see was that I had carefully plotted out the shortest possible walking route and was holding Christina’s hand in a vain attempt to keep her on track. Within 50 feet, something “interesting” catches her eye and the progression slows. At some point I give up and sit down on a bench or step to wait. By the way, dawdling is not limited to walking. When she’s in front of a computer it’s the same thing – hours pass and she returns with arms full of printouts of things for us to do!

Fortunately for both of us, the world is a very different place seen through Christina’s eyes. It’s full of interesting sights and things to do. Every open door is an opportunity to explore a new courtyard; every info display has lots of museums to visit and courses to take; every magazine is full of movies and shows to see. We can’t walk down a block without meeting someone new (usually a shop owner or a dog). When Christina is around there’s never a shortage of interesting things to do.

I’m convinced that “dawdling behavior” is related to gender. I tend to go view life (like most guys I suspect) as a series of tasks or missions to be completed as quickly as possible. Christina views life as a series of wonderful potential opportunities. One of my jobs is to come up with a list of restaurants for us. I approach this by getting Zagats and the Michelin Red Guide and cross referencing them by “arrondisement”, ambiance and food type. I then give her a list of “acceptable” restaurants by type and travel distance. I am also responsible for getting the newspaper and providing books for us to read. Christina’s job is to plan everything else – walks, museums, movies, jazz clubs, stores, etc. She also is responsible for planning, marketing and preparing one home dinner a week (per our negotiated agreement). She then wonders why I have more time for reading than she does!

Part of the reason that we both love Paris and New York is the shear diversity of things to do. You can easily spend a day (or 2 or 3) just walking around looking at interesting buildings, parks, shops and markets. The big museums and tourist sights are often just icing on the cake. I can’t imagine living anywhere else but one (or both!) of these cities.


Well, I’m off. Christina has a busy day planned for us. We probably won’t get to half the things on the list but there’s always tomorrow.

Paul del Balso, Paris Journal
October 25, 2005


Christina’s aside:
When you dawdle, there’s no telling just what you might find. Have a look at this wonderful Wallace fountain which dispenses drinking water in many parts of Paris. These cast iron fountains are named after Richard Wallace, the Englishman who paid for their construction in the late 1800’s and the water dispensed today is still good to drink.

Don’t let Paul fool you--he dawdles as well, but he calls it shopping!

Just Another Day in Paris

It’s Tuesday and we had nothing really planned. It’s market day in the 6th and we had decided to cook at home today and catch up with some of the household chores. In the early afternoon we headed out to walk along a block that we dream about owning a flat on. Rue Reclaimer—a beautiful dead end street off the rue Sevres that ends in a Park and has a lovely restaurant in the middle. In al the years we have been here, we have never seen a for sale sign once!

Now noon, our wanders lead us straight to “Paul” a shop which makes the most incredible sandwiches. While Paul opted to eat at his name sake, I decided to forego bread for an Amarone gelato: Amerena (black cherry) and Nutella—what a great mixture, and how easily I can give up bread for this!

Sitting on Rue du Buci is a delight in terms of people watching. During our 20 minute stop, we watched the homeless man with his dogs, and any number of colourful and local tourists cross our path. Our favourite was the older guy with the bright orange shirt and matching shawl sporting a salt ‘n pepper Mohawk!

The afternoon was a delight strolling along rue du Seine filled with art galleries on either side. This was better then visiting a museum and it was free. We saw everything from contemporary canvases to African tribal art and masks. Our favourite discovery was an artist by the name of Marc Perez who paints and sculpts and who’s art has quite a sense of humour.