Why Paris and I are BFF
[1603.1718..1723.1726]
Do you love blogs as much as I do? Here's my new favorite: The Best Life Ever. In the spirit of celebrating the GOOD things, here's a list of reasons I was meant to be in Paris.
People are beautiful. Women love knee-high boots and leather jackets, skirts and stockings are de rigueur, and men aren't afraid to wear scarves as a fashion accessory.
The city is beautiful. There's a breadth of architectural style that isn't present in any U.S. city I know. The sense of space in Paris is liberating, thanks to the efforts of everyone from Henri IV to Napoleon and Haussmann. Many apartment complexes are built around courtyards so that apartments have courtyard-facing terraces/balconies and are amply lit. The wrought iron railings and balconies on all the buildings remind me of Romeo and Juliet sets. I love the way the Eiffel Tower twinkles at night. I love the bigger-than-life monuments and plazas and general sense of scale-they take me out of my self-centered existence and remind me that there's an entire universe outside of my head.
The public transportation system is incredibly efficient. The Métro and RER go everywhere in the metro-Paris area that I could possibly want to go. The métro trains generally come at intervals at less than ten minutes, and almost every métro and RER station has a way to announce the wait time for the next train-LED banners in the former and TV screens in the latter. Buses have their own lanes. My favorite route is #72, which runs across Paris along the Seine, from the 16th arrondissement to the 7th and beyond. The system has an amazing Web site, www.ratp.fr, that's incredibly user-friendly: It's got every map you could need, an online itinerary planner, news about goings-on in the city, etc.-and it's available in French as well as five other languages.
The eating is good! Baguettes are only 1€, and they are available EVERYWHERE. Cheese is considered its own separate course; it comes after the entree (le plat principal) and before the dessert. Wine and liquor are sold in grocery stores-no pesky city referenda necessary! Many many many wines are less than 5€, and yesterday I got a roll of yummy chèvre for less than 2€. Prix fixe menus, which I love, are everywhere. The patisseries have dizzying arrays of pastries that I've never so much as heard of. I love espresso now. Espresso, and canelés.
Cafés with heat lamps. Cafe culture would never have survived without generous use of the glorious technology of heat lamps. Who wants to sit inside when you can people watch from a heat lamp-enhanced outdoor vantage point?
To be continued. :) I'm having a vapid day so I'm going to go find a canelé and peut-être some coffee.