Here are some final observations about Paris:
We both agree that there has been a homogenization of people since the 1970’s. I remember after six weeks that I was dying for a hamburger. It was the first thing that I ate when I returned home. Now there are McDonalds EVERYWHERE as well as many American brands.
We were told that Parisians hated the arrival of McDonalds on the Champs Elysees. Now they embrace it and credit it with bringing traffic back to the famed street.
McDonald’s is called McDonald’s in France, but the possessive tends to fall away in spoken language, as it doesn’t make sense in French. So it is just McDo.
In the past, the Parisians used to roll their eyes at anyone that wore tennis or athletic shoes. Now I see commuters wearing them seeing the wisdom of the comfort … and the fact that they are now an expensive status symbol. There are still some holdouts that wear uncomfortable heels so there are HUGE blister prevention displays in the pharmacies. I wonder if my clunky hiking boots are IN or OUT!! I have seen a few young women with big clunky boots.
Women’s pants here, whether denim or not, have VERY big legs. They seem to only fit at the waist … and sometimes with a needed belt.
No one except tourists wears hats. It has been blisteringly hot. They REALLY need hats. I have a bright-coral, broad-brimmed hat. A real standout.
There are a lot of bikes; more than I remember, and they tend to ignore the traffic signs. BEWARE!
I have to remember that Paris is like New York. Beware of pickpockets and other crimes as we are easy marks. I am amazed at the melting pot of different people. They even look like New Yorkers of all shapes, colors, ages, etc. but then they start talking French. It is a weird feeling.
I know a few words of French but very little. They like for you to use French, but once you say Bonjour they respond with a whole litany of words that I don’t understand. However, it is nice to have such good pronunciation that I am mistaken for being French.
I thought that this was an interesting store …a vintage kilo shop. They weigh your purchase, and one pays based on that weight. I think that it is really a glorified garage sale.
I am always interested in what the locals are listening to on the radio so I compiled a list:
- How I Feel (Am I Wrong) by Faul & Wad, Nico & Vinz, ALTÉGO & Old Jim
- Madrid City by Ana Mena
- Confetti by Charlotte Cardin
- Tout Perdu by Orlane
- Tout pour la músique by France Gaul
If you need to identify a song playing on the radio (not live or recorded music), use the Shazam app.
If you are into world music and world languages, download the app Radio Garden. I like to find cool stations around the world and save them. Or I can listen to a blacked out sporting event. The Paris station was often VOLTAGE.
I was amused by the bathroom products. They could easily double as food products – chia seed body lotion, purple kale shampoo.
Here are some recommendations for French food that were given to us by our hotel. Too bad that we couldn’t try them all.
Rob and I went to Les Fils a Maman and they had Chicken Cordon Blue and, as always, it was served with delicious baguettes made daily.
We walked by the restaurant Bouillon that we ate at on our first day and saw the lines that we avoided by going early.
We left Paris and flew to Palermo on Transavia Airlines. More delicious food awaited. It was time to unbutton my pants!!!
We have been here in Palermo for less than eight hours, and we have already eaten spaghetti, pizza, gelato and cannoli.
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