We spent a very pleasant day walking through Le Marais and portions of the 4me Arrondissement. We took the bus to the Bastille and then walked back, stopping in various stores to look, drool and dream.
Even 5 blocks away from the Louvre the influence of tourism disappears. The menus are all in French. English speakers dwindle markedly. Prices also drop substantially. It is altogether more foreign, and much more pleasant, than the central areas around the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees.
Le Marais is a neighborhood unto itself. Once a swamp (hence the name- The Swamp), it became the city's Jewish Quarter. Somehow Jews are always getting put on the least desirable land. It was true in Paris as well as in Palestine. 30 years ago it became one of the popular gay/lesbian neighborhoods. Both influences are still evident, in signs and stores, in various small ways. The area feels, to a large extent, like Greenwich Village, my favorite part of NYC, and Le Marais is the nicest part of Paris so far.
The shopping style is so different from suburban America. There are supermarkets (the Fran Prix, a great pun), but most foodstuffs are in specialty stores. We passed several boulangeries (bakeries) and, even better, patisseries (pastry shops). We had some of the best eclairs we've ever had from a little patisserie on a side street. They were 3 Euros each, half the price as the fancified shops elsewhere. We walked out with tomorrow's breakfast for two for less than the price of one breakfast across from our hotel, and less than half of what our hotel charges for one breakfast (a staggering 38 Euros. For obvious reasons, we have NOT eaten at our hotel). There was a magnificent store selling prepared meat dishes, a butcher with chicken, turkey, rabbit (!), beef and pork, and a seafood store. There was premade sushi that puts the Fresh Market to shame.
French standards of food handling and refrigeration would not pass even the most cursory inspection in the US. While raw meat was refrigerated, pates and cooked chicken were not. No gloves were being worn when slicing these products, yet somehow (knock on wood) everything felt clean and safe. There were no clustering flies, no blood remains. Everything was very clean. Most store owners take ownership and pride in their stores, an attitude sadly lacking in US franchised establishments. We watched one restaurant owner on a ladder washing his sign.
Buses in Paris are a stellar way to get around. While we did not see the wealthy, or business people, on the bus, the buses are clean, free of graffiti and also free of blaring radios. 4 women with baby carriages got on or off during our ride, and the bus has provisions for carriages and wheelchairs that put to shame the lip service efforts in the US. Of course, a ticket is also 2 Euros per person....
It is easy to imagine living here, although it would be very different. Real estate prices are about the same as in NYC. A 4 room apartment rents for 2-3,000 Euros monthly, or a very fine 6 room apartment in a Hausmann building (a famous architect I found out) can be bought for 2,000,000 Euros. A reasonable living space for a couple or a family of 3 is 800 square feet. On the other hand, there is rarely need for a car, and taxes cover health care and retirement. There are small green areas for children to play, and the streets, like NYC, are an entertainment and diversion (and also a hazard and annoyance of themselves.
I have often felt, and never more than today, that my entire American life is one great overindulgence. Huge house, huge meal portions of utterly mediocre food, huuge cars! I had a Mercedes S550. We've seen a couple here; they were driven by chauffeurs. Everything in the US, or at least in the South, is bigger, cheaper, and generally of mediocre character compared to what we have experienced so far.
Of all the things I feel from this trip, it is to eat less, walk more, and do whatever I do with more elegance than size.
Ted
Even 5 blocks away from the Louvre the influence of tourism disappears. The menus are all in French. English speakers dwindle markedly. Prices also drop substantially. It is altogether more foreign, and much more pleasant, than the central areas around the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees.
Le Marais is a neighborhood unto itself. Once a swamp (hence the name- The Swamp), it became the city's Jewish Quarter. Somehow Jews are always getting put on the least desirable land. It was true in Paris as well as in Palestine. 30 years ago it became one of the popular gay/lesbian neighborhoods. Both influences are still evident, in signs and stores, in various small ways. The area feels, to a large extent, like Greenwich Village, my favorite part of NYC, and Le Marais is the nicest part of Paris so far.
The shopping style is so different from suburban America. There are supermarkets (the Fran Prix, a great pun), but most foodstuffs are in specialty stores. We passed several boulangeries (bakeries) and, even better, patisseries (pastry shops). We had some of the best eclairs we've ever had from a little patisserie on a side street. They were 3 Euros each, half the price as the fancified shops elsewhere. We walked out with tomorrow's breakfast for two for less than the price of one breakfast across from our hotel, and less than half of what our hotel charges for one breakfast (a staggering 38 Euros. For obvious reasons, we have NOT eaten at our hotel). There was a magnificent store selling prepared meat dishes, a butcher with chicken, turkey, rabbit (!), beef and pork, and a seafood store. There was premade sushi that puts the Fresh Market to shame.
French standards of food handling and refrigeration would not pass even the most cursory inspection in the US. While raw meat was refrigerated, pates and cooked chicken were not. No gloves were being worn when slicing these products, yet somehow (knock on wood) everything felt clean and safe. There were no clustering flies, no blood remains. Everything was very clean. Most store owners take ownership and pride in their stores, an attitude sadly lacking in US franchised establishments. We watched one restaurant owner on a ladder washing his sign.
Buses in Paris are a stellar way to get around. While we did not see the wealthy, or business people, on the bus, the buses are clean, free of graffiti and also free of blaring radios. 4 women with baby carriages got on or off during our ride, and the bus has provisions for carriages and wheelchairs that put to shame the lip service efforts in the US. Of course, a ticket is also 2 Euros per person....
It is easy to imagine living here, although it would be very different. Real estate prices are about the same as in NYC. A 4 room apartment rents for 2-3,000 Euros monthly, or a very fine 6 room apartment in a Hausmann building (a famous architect I found out) can be bought for 2,000,000 Euros. A reasonable living space for a couple or a family of 3 is 800 square feet. On the other hand, there is rarely need for a car, and taxes cover health care and retirement. There are small green areas for children to play, and the streets, like NYC, are an entertainment and diversion (and also a hazard and annoyance of themselves.
I have often felt, and never more than today, that my entire American life is one great overindulgence. Huge house, huge meal portions of utterly mediocre food, huuge cars! I had a Mercedes S550. We've seen a couple here; they were driven by chauffeurs. Everything in the US, or at least in the South, is bigger, cheaper, and generally of mediocre character compared to what we have experienced so far.
Of all the things I feel from this trip, it is to eat less, walk more, and do whatever I do with more elegance than size.
Ted
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