It is a sunny Sunday evening, and I am writing from a small
terrace surrounded by a host of apartments on a busy street complete with boulangerie on the corner that winds up
to an array cafés still adorned with street-side coffee drinkers making the
most of the weather and the last few hours of the weekend before the working week
commences. 5 days into life a Paris,
and already it is taking a rather different shape to anything I have previously experienced. Landing here somewhat
apprehensive (guilty of a few two many preconceptions) I have been pleasantly
surprised by what I have discovered thus far of my new abode. My first
impressions and musings as a newcomer to the French capital:
- ‘Parisian chic’ actually does exist. Well in the
arrondissements I have thus far
frequented anyway. Keeping it smart and
simple seems to be key, though French women gain few points for originality, I
have seen the same block-colour-or-no-colour repertoires several times always
accompanied by the same neat-as-ever carefully pinned or alternatively sweeping
tresses.
- Sadly so does Parisian rudeness. Perhaps a
little too early to be arriving at this conclusion, but several brusque
encounters that leave a lot to be desired in terms of customer service makes me
wonder if the stereotype is true, at least of city dwellers in general perhaps.
- The scenic side of life didn’t stop in Alsace.
Granted I’ve swapped mountains for a more urban-environment, but I have been
surprised by the impressive architecture, pleasant green spaces, and a general
smart-ness which makes it a chic residents clearly feel at home. Of course as
in any city some areas are more agreeable to look at than others, but my
preconceptions of “metro and grime” were a little harsh.
- L’ennui isn’t
an option, as there is no way one could become bored with both enough to do and
see that tourists come back, and enough pleasant spaces that just “going for a
wander” can turn into an afternoons entertainment. Accompanied by my dad for
the first few days of Parisian life, we enjoyed ourselves being touristic (cooing
alternatively at Notre-dame, and the Eiffel Tower), stopping for refreshment in
cafés, and benefiting from the sunshine for an informal picnic in the Jardins
de Luxembourg. Today I continued our exploration solo and visited the Pantheon
– once church, now civic building of impressive stature, and the burial place
of many famous French men (and women – well, Marie Curie). Perhaps a little odd
to spend Sunday afternoon in a crypt alongside Rousseau and Victor Hugo, but
I’m all for educational weekend excursions.
- The metro system deserves a lot more credit than
my initial reticence (fear) allowed. Yes, the stations may be lacking in decorum and insufficient in light levels, but with a navigo-pass that
leaves me hopping on and off to my hearts desire, getting around Paris couldn’t
be easier. It also helps that the French
decided to use numbers and colours, which are proving a lot easier to remember
than the confusing names we English used to organise our underground system.
Perhaps my impressions of both public transport and life in
the capital will change when the metro-boulot-dodo
routine commences tomorrow (apparently the commuting-working-sleeping
routine jades a little the optimism induced by Sunday afternoons in the
sunshine) but we shall soon find out.
It remains to be seen if my rendezvous with Paris will
blossom into a true histoire d’amour, I
think a little more
getting-to-know-one-another is necessary first. Good thing then we’ve got
three months to continue the story.
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