Paris Journal 2009 – Barbara Joy Cooley
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Yesterday we worked at the
computers all day until about 5PM.
When it came to be time for the evening stroll through the Luxembourg
Gardens, it was hot --- not SW Florida hot, but hot & city dry, with a
bit too much bad ozone in the air. Yet
this is very good weather by Northern European standards. We took it easy. First we found the new Nespresso store on
rue Bonaparte and bought a supply of coffee capsules. The store is stunningly gorgeous, all sleek
and modern and very open. This does
not have the feel of a cluttered boutique.
Rather, it has the feel of an designer boutique in the most upscale
American community that you can imagine. After a big circuit through the
Luxembourg Gardens, we sat by the Medici fountain and watched people, mostly
kids, feeding the ducks. One older
lady had a plastic bag full of her kitchen garbage, which she tossed, bit by
bit, into the water. The ducks
especially loved the lettuce that she contributed. My Florida soul knows it is wrong to feed
wildlife, but these creatures are no longer living in the wild and they’ve
depended on handouts from humans for many generations. As we watched the duck feeding
operations, we discussed dinner plans.
We also needed to go to a grocery again. While it is possible to go out to eat at
8PM and still go to the grocery afterward because Monoprix is open until 10PM
and Champion is open until 11:30PM, we decided we really only had the energy
to do one or the other. It is nice to be able to shop
for food so late in the evening; this
is a great convenience that those out in small towns in the provinces do not
enjoy. And it is perfect for those of
us who are writing at the computers during the day. We opted for the grocery store
option, partly because that would make life easier for the next couple
days. Because we needed high-quality
mayonnaise and mustard, we chose Monoprix – their upscale options are more
varied than Franprix’s or Champion’s.
(Champion, by the way, is owned by Carrefour, the French retailing
giant.) Laden with a very heavy bag, I
headed for home afterwards and Tom, whose bag was lighter, headed for the
newsstand to buy papers. For the rest
of the evening, we lounged around, munching on goodies and reading the
papers. By
the way, if you think that Parisians do most of their shopping at the farmers’
market and small specialty shops, you are mistaken. The crowds in the grocery stores,
especially from late afternoon until closing time, tell us otherwise. Here are some
practical, money-saving tips, thanks to Jim Hanlon: To avoid ATM
fees in France, use a Bank of America ATM/debit card at BNP Parisbas bank
ATMs. Bank of America has an agreement
with BNP Parisbas to avoid these fees. (In England, Bank of America has such
an agreement with Barclay’s bank.) To avoid
international service fees on every credit card purchase in Europe, use a
Capital One Mastercard. It is
advisable to notify both banks ahead of time of your overseas travel plans so
that transactions will not be blocked. Remember my remark that there
are almost no motorcycles on the streets of midtown and downtown Manhattan,
but they are everywhere in Paris? I
guess one reason is that they are cheap transportation, and in Paris there
are lots of parking places, even on the sidewalks sometimes, designated for
the “two wheelers.” New York does not
seem to provide such a convenience, which is fine with me because I dislike
the noise of the motorcycles, as well as the motorcyclists’ aggressive
driving. They weave in and out of busy
traffic, greatly increasing the anxiety effect. There is a quieter alternative
that I’m hoping will take hold: the
electric motor scooter. According to
the Journal of the Ile de France, “Silent, simple to use, and non-polluting, it
has only advantages, the electric scooter!
One ‘fills the tank’ at one of forty some outlets in Paris and thirty
some in the near banlieue; or, at home, plugged into a 220 volt outlet [the
standard in France], it takes four to six hours to recharge. More than twenty models are available at a
cost ranging from 1200 to 3500 euros.
Paris city hall will reimburse 25% of the cost,up to 400 euros. This reimbursement, reserved for Parisians,
is for the 50cm3 [engine size???].” For more information, see www.espacemobelec.fr . Sign
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The
Louvre as seen from the left bank of the Seine.
A
painting called “Yes We Can” by Serge Mendjisky, 2008, in the display window
of the Monte Paschi Banque on the Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris.
An
old Citroën. |
