Yeshabooks: July 2015

Where do I even begin? I sound like Elizabeth Barret who when in love wrote... "how do I love thee.. let me count the ways" I wouldn't be exaggerating that I felt the same for France.

France is the most visited country in the world; Paris is called the most romantic city in the world. I did not have these facts in my mind when I decided to visit this place.

But once there, I knew why these facts haven't changed over the years...

Disclaimer: This blogpost is not about French architecture trail, or historical facts, or its museums or a top places list to visit in 10 - 12 day visit to France.

The consistent temptation - aided by nudges from everyone around about exploring more than one country was really hard to resist. However, how tempting it was, my friend and I stuck to our plan... and roamed the streets of Paris, exploring local markets in French villages and.. yeah.. this trip was mainly about chilling, catching the pulse of French culture.

Our itinerary was simple - Paris - Idyllic Alpine Village Annecy - Provencal Village Vensaque - back to Paris

Paris: Landing in Paris - we were greeted by friendly immigration officers, whether one blames it on Jet Airways or Charles De Gaulle Airport itself - it wasn't very organised. Finding out our belt number was quite a task, and then figuring out where it is even bigger. Post our adventure of one hour or so on the airport.. we finally lugged our luggage to the Metro and off we were! The moment our metro starting crossing the city - we were delighted to see the quaintness outside.. and for me the broad daylight even at 9 pm was such a treat!

My friend and I did a home stay with a French family in the heart of the Paris, right next to Luxembourg Gardens. An elderly couple who were into sculpting, graffiti and painting. Staying with them gave me an insight into the ways and the lives of a French common man.

Once with them - we realized that Parisians have so much beauty in their everyday lives. All the houses, flats around had wooden interiors with glass roofs. Lots of greenery in form of balcony flower plants, ivy and creepers everywhere. The houses were marked by solid wood furniture that looks grand. Glass tops allow natural light to stream in the house everywhere ... making it super cool! The crockery used everyday is ceramic plates, ceramic mugs and jars, wooden spatulas etc. Anne & Jean (couple we were staying with) mostly cooked in Le Creuset pans...so just the living room and the kitchen packed with layers of wood, ceramic stuff, painted cotton fabrics, wicker baskets made a perfect picture for life style magazine.

Metro is the easiest, cost effective and fastest way to travel in Paris. Rather than take a metro week pass, we took the day pass priced at approx 7 euros - for days when we would hop from one corner to another. Rest of the days saw us exploring the streets on foot, hence expense on travel was even lower. It was something to see French men immaculately dressed, with a cross bag ... on a bicycle! same goes for women. I was surprised to see so many people on cycles going to office, picking and dropping school going children, shopping or just for fun. Cycles were everywhere! which made me search on how Paris became a biker friendly city and found that about 10 years ago, city authorities of Paris, led by Denis Baupin, then Deputy Mayor of Transportation, decided to reduce the space occupied by cars, replacing it with wider bus-bike lanes and bike paths. You can read more on this here. How cool! we definitely need this in Mumbai and Delhi.

There is so much to see in Paris, that even for a person who is quick , would need minimum 20 days to soak in everything - Eiffel. Luxembourg, my fav. Goth architecture Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Triomphe. Palais Royal, Moulin Rouge, Lido, Opera, Theater, cuisine... one can go on and on... and who can forget its world famous shopping destination too!

Paris is known as The City of Lights... once there, I did not find anything remarkable in their lighting. Certainly just the bright Eiffel cannot make the city earn this name! Dubai, Singapore, Las Vegas are the ones which more fit the bill. Thanks to Google, I found out that the name has nothing to do with the Eiffel Tower lights or the streetlights of the city. Intellectuals are the lights!! the name refers to the high-concentration of writers, artists and academicians that have always been drawn to the city.

Sigh - even the name is poetic!

Apart from all the historical monsters as mentioned above, that are on everyone's to do Paris list - few things that cannot be missed are - Seine River tour... Its so beautiful that its almost criminal! Now Seine by the day or Seine by the night was the big Q in front of us that we ended up touring twice! Seine by the day is my fav as it shows the architecture of the city clearly. How every building blends into another, yet has its own identity... no jarring lines, no odd structures that are an eye sore...

By law, no buildings can exceed six stories in Paris. As its important that "Pour que tout le monde ait du soleil" which means "so that all have sunshine", resulting in a metro that has retained old world charm, unique in the world.

It was a noon with a hint of rain in the air when we sailed on Seine.. so was right out of a story book.

Surrounded by the beauty, by the love lock bridges, by people dancing and singing on banks of Seine, there one can muse why Paris motto is "Fluctuat nec mergitur" meaning "It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink."

Another was Saint Ouen Market - its 150-year-old market and the world's largest and most famous flea market. I think this was the only place that was on to-do list in Paris. Eiffel tower or Louvre is something one will visit - so for all historical destinations, we really hadn't even checked the timings or days or how to get there...as that's what all tourists do and info should be easily available anywhere. For St. Ouen market, we checked on days, as it is only open on weekends and made our plan around it. It has labyrinthine alleys and stalls where one can find anything imaginable.

Ever been to Mumbai Chor Bazaar... well.. this was French Chor Bazaar. If you like exploring places where you can find first LV bag, Dior 1950 collection, miniature perfume bottles, how did old Chanel smelled like, magazines out of print or more antiques, here is where you go!

The rates are exorbitant. We couldn't buy anything except a few trinkets here and there, but the market's ambiance is adorable to explore.

Lastly, every city is made by its people. French people were warm and helpful. A lot of French guys volunteered for help when I was travelling cross cities and had heavy bags with me. My friend would always get lost when she would go on a run.. to be helped by people who didn't hesitate to use Google Maps on their mobiles; for pure vegetarian food... they would take the trouble of reading all ingredients and informing. At so many places when lost and where we could not communicate due to language barrier - we were escorted till the closest correct metro station or bus stop. (which made me think if I would ever do the same - tell the way (yes), GPS (yes) but escorting takes time .. even if 5 minutes) - which was very heart warming.