Monday, May 03, 2010

paris in sepia


I am back from the city of lights.

Balls.

Flew on that double decker massive Air France airbus. One wonders how the dickens it gets into the sky. And yet it was the smoothest long distance flight I’ve ever experienced.

You hardly feel it even touch the runway, it’s like, ‘I say, did a bird fly into the turbines? Oh wait, we’re on par with a house in Jet Park.’

So, Paris.

Paris reminds me of Buenos Aires. An upmarket version of its South American sister if you will. The architecture is the same, as are the big boulevards and tiny cobbled streets.

I don’t know which is more romantic, Paris or Rome. I was working on this trip, and although my Brit was around, both cities go hand in hand on the romance. Maybe a touch more fountains and moving water in Rome.

Café culture. All the chairs face outwards onto the street so that you can people watch. And you wanna people watch. Between the poodles, fashion that you drool over, every third person wearing a variation of stripes, and people snogging each other.

Or old French men in seersucker jackets.

The French eat a lot of veal. Never noticed this before. Usually the world focuses on the whole snail and frog leg thing. Baby cows not so much.
The French had an obligatory strike on Saturday. Over pension funds. The gendarmarie, fire brigade, the whole armed forces were out and traffic stopped. It isn’t a clichĂ©; it’s what they do.

People aren’t that unfriendly there. Granted, I spoke French most of the time.

I love my Brit. And I can’t wait to be with him again soon.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

This reminds me of a crazy, French rambling stranger I once had the dubious pleasure of being seated next to at a work dinner - he repeatedly took and kissed my hand, telling me how he missed home. Then he told me of how it's cheaper in europe to kill the cows when they're babies than to keep them in a barn for long cold winters, hence veal being more commonplace.

Peas on Toast said...

sam - oy vey! That sounds about right - smooch your hand, whisper sweet nothings...and then go on to tell you that they'll eat anything under any costs if it tastes good enough.

Eeek. I'm guilty as charged though. Not veal, but DID eat fois gras. The controversy and animal cruelty around that makes me feel VERY guilty.

Heartst♥p said...

WOW! Amazing pics! Gotta love the french.
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Peas on Toast said...

Thanks Jean! I got a lot of slack from my colleagues and the Brit for using so much sepia, but I was hoping that the proof was in the pudding :)

kyknoord said...

I've always admired the French ability to turn anything into food. I believe it's only a matter of time before they find the right sauce to go with garbage and our landfill problems will be over.

Peas on Toast said...

Kyk - you're too right, lad. Every ad in france, be it a car, a finance package, or even home decor - has food in it. Print or TV. The guy will be eating cheese in the latest Renault, and the couch will have a Camembert placed on it.

Food sells as well as sex.