Jet-Lagged Reflections

We got our dog Elsie back today (thank you Tina) and tomorrow begins a new workweek, so this seemed an appropriate time for a final post on the France trip (but you never know).

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I was constantly struck at how comfortable I felt in Paris and France, and I've come up with several possible reasons why that was so. The first and most obvious is the climate, vegetation, and countryside. I grew up in the Midwest, where it rains in the summer and is consequently very lush and green. France is the same way. The dry California summers still seem somewhat unnatural to me after all these years; in contrast, the rain in France and the greenness seemed exactly right. When we were driving through eastern France on our way to and from Luxembourg and Germany, I swear there were times when I looked out over the countryside and thought (don't laugh now) ... this looks exactly like Iowa. Well, not exactly; the hills were a predominantly a little bit more hilly, and the land was somewhat more forested, but I saw a ton of corn being grown, which made me think "home." (Quick internet research shows that France is the 6th largest corn producer in the world, with an annual production of almost 15,000,000 metric tons. This blog is entertaining and educational.)

The second was the way the French people related to us and to each other. I may have already noted this, but they seemed to me to be sort of the way I am ... very respectful of others, but a little distant; helpful and warm if approached, but otherwise keeping to themselves and allowing others their space. Once when we were on the bus coming back to the apartment, a woman who was trying to park her car apparently took offense at the bus driver and started screaming at him. Suzie remarked afterward that (1) it was the only time during our three weeks that we saw or heard such an outward display of conflict and anger and (2) everyone on our bus strongly reacted to the incident, looking at the screaming woman and talking about the incident afterward. In many American cities, I don't think most people would have given the incident a second thought. Also interesting was how quiet and orderly people were on the Metro and on the buses ... no loud talking, no loud radios, very respectful.

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I won't do a top 10 list, but I do have some awards I'd like to hand out.

Most Unexpectedly Enjoyable Museum -- This award goes to the Musee des Arts et Metiers, the museum of old inventions and Foucault's pendulum housed in an renovated old church. Easily the most enjoyable museum-going experience (well-done and interesting exhibits, great space, no crowds, friendly staff).

Experience I Wish I'd Missed -- Versailles, hands down. Ugh. Dark, claustrophobic, excessively crowded (where's the fire marshall when you need him?), completely uninteresting from my perspective.

Best Grand Magasin -- Au Printemps. Tons of stuff, not too crowded, nice staff, great rooftop cafe.

Most Unexpectedly Enjoyable Tourist Attraction -- The Eiffel Tower. Splendid structure, great views, good workout walking to the second level. Second and third places go to the towers of Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe, for similar reasons, the towers winning out because of the much more interesting architecture and the gargoyles.

Most Ridiculous Structure -- The Tour Monparnasse, a huge, not very attractive, standard-issue high rise office building stuck completely out of context in an otherwise attractive Paris neighborhood.

Coolest Dome -- The dome of the aptly named Eglise du Dome, visible from many parts of Paris. The cool dome makes up for the excessively ostentatious interior, and the very boring tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Nicest Area that Seemed to be Non-Touristy -- The suburb of Neuilly sur Seine, just south of Levellois, where we were staying (Levellois is also very nice, but Neully is a little nicer). A close second to the Passy area in Paris, where we spent an afternoon looking through shops.

Most Disappointing Area in Paris -- Montmartre. Sacre Coeur was disappointing (and a tough walk to get to) and the area surrounding it was tourist heaven, although we did end up finding an excellent, friendly restaurant there and the neighborhood outside the tourist area is very cute.

Favorite City Visited other than Paris -- Strasbourg, hands down. Very nice, interesting old section, and the immense, immense cathedral.

Most Unexpected Nice Thing -- Being invited by Laurence's parents to their house for drinks and a wonderful selection of food. Absolutely warmth.

Hardest Day -- The long, long, long drive from Freudenstadt to Paris on the back roads, through intermittent rain, followed by losing the car in the garage, not finding the right parking space, and the waterfall in the elevator.

Best Public Space -- The Luxembourg Gardens. Gloriously beautiful, and yet completely utilitarian.

Most Disappointing Public Space -- The Tuleries. The day we were there, it was windy and dusty, and the gardens just didn't seem pretty or inviting.

Glad I Went but Wouldn't Again unless I Wanted Something in Particular -- The Champs Elysee. Too crowded, not intrinsically interesting enough.

Museum that Improved Most Upon Reflection -- The Museum of the Middle Ages. I find myself thinking about things in that museum more than most of the others.

Thing I'm Most Glad I Went Out of my Way to Do -- The Modern Art Museum at the Pompidou Center. Interesting, engaging, over-the-top stupid, and funny.

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This trip was great for my two sons. I was worried that all they would do is fight, and there was some of that, but mostly they became closer on the trip. And they were troopers, too, walking and walking and walking, and going to things they may not have wanted to go to, and not complaining much. They were almost always well behaved in public. We had told them that they were representing the U.S. while we were there, and I think they took that to heart. They were generally quiet and respectful, and were particularly great in restaurants (good table manners, low voices). On top of all that ... they had fun. What a deal.

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Finally, and this may surprise some of you, this trip has actually made me rethink some of my political notions. It was great to be in a city that cared about its public spaces. The streets and sidewalks were clean, there were almost no homeless people or panhandlers (were were they?), almost no litter. Why is it that we can't have that in our cities? We heard some about the various taxes that the French have to pay (there is actually something called a "living tax," that has to be paid by anyone who owns or rents an apartment or home; can you imagine the government imposing a "living tax" here?), but I didn't get much of a sense of complaint about it. Why can't we have a tax system that is more rational and straightforward (particularly here in California)? Even the news broadcasts seem different there ... when I was in the airport in Cincinnati, CNN was on a TV screen, and an ad for some CNN program came on, and it was all loud and obnoxious and very insistent like THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD AND WE ARE ALL FIGHTING ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND YOU MUST LISTEN BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT MISS OUT AND THE OTHER SIDE WILL WIN. I didn't hear that in France. Although I admit I didn't comb the channels, what I mostly saw in France was quiet men and women reading stories and introducing quiet pieces about this and that. So here's what I'd like to see: quieter voices, cleaner public spaces, a truly gentler country. But I am not hopeful.