(Considering my last post was about toilets you have to figure this post will be better.)
My impressions of Paris are mixed. I want to love it. My heart says this is a beautiful city and I feel I am being courted to fall in love with it. My head wants to know what the attraction is and encourages me to move on.
The iconic landmarks are intact but graffiti is over everything else. The quaint bicycle riders are everywhere but so are the insanely prolific and crazy motorcycle riders. And I do mean CRAZY. They weave in and out of traffic in such close proximity to your vehicle that I am surprised we don't end up with some riders in our car with us. (And this topic makes me sad because I think of a certain Princess that should be holding her first grand son in her arms at this very moment were it not for crazy Parisian motorcyclists.) The median age where we have been seems to be 20 to 30'ish, unless we are touring. Then it rises to 50 to 60'ish. Cigarette smoking is very prevalent and, maybe it's my imagination, people don't smile a lot.
And then there's the heat, possibly the reason why there are few smiles. Air conditioning in buildings hundreds of years old? No. Thank goodness our hotel is not one of them. Now if someone, maybe those efficient Germans, can figure out how to air condition the outdoors it will make touring more of a delight. As it was I'm not sure how much about Louis the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth I remember while touring Versailles today. I tried to move through the palace as quickly as I could so no one could trace the puddles of sweat to me. How in the world did Marie Antoinette stand around in corsets and bloomers on these hot summer days?
So while I think as a young rebellious person I would have yearned to indulge in a Parisian lifestyle.......oh heck, who am I kidding? I was NEVER a young rebellious person and had I been introduced to Paris in my early years I wouldn't have known what to do with her.
Tomorrow I leave Paris with my heart intact.
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