Encore Paris - 2018

(This was written before we left Paris to return to the US...) For two days now the John Denver song, "Leaving on a Jet Plane" has been running around inside my head: - Because I'm leaving on a jet plane. - Don't know when I'll be back again. - Oh babe, I hate to go... We've developed something of a new relationship with Paris on this trip.  All told and across many years of our time as a couple, we've spent nearly an entire year in this city.  It's a beautiful place.  The people ARE nice to Americans.  There's something to see around every corner.  sometime the views are awe inspiring.  It's a walking city.  Mass transit is everywhere.  It's safe.  It's no longer a mystery to us.  We know the differences between cutesy and normal Paris.  We can notice the small courtesies that we receive.  But...  The metros are very crowded and the buses come irregularly.  It's also dirty, smelly and some places aren't well maintained.

We moved from Los Angeles to Portland just over 2 years ago.  We'd been coming to Portland for 20 years and always felt a strong bond with the place.  It simply has a LOT of the things we value in where we live (I won't enumerate them here -- this blog is about Paris). During our time (this time) in Paris we kept noticing ways in which Paris and Portland were alike or at least similar to us.  Here's the list we came up with: 1. Guys with man buns 2. People are polite: "no after you" 3. Both cities are food oriented 4. Geographically, everything is close both in distance and transit times 5. Similar weather -- not a good thing! 6. Liberal/progressive 7. Both are among the most attractive cities we know.  With Paris, it's from the hand of man -- buildings, architecture, public spaces.  With Portland, it's the setting -- green spaces, the trees. 8. Both cities have an anti car attitude 9. Guys can wear scarves and not feel silly 10.

At the end of these trips we've often done a "Lessons Learned" entry to help remind ourselves of what we've done well or want to do differently next time we travel (long enough to bother with a blog). Tom's List: 1. Always get the SIM chip with data plan.  With Google Maps, a paper map of the city is an anachronism. 2. Get the unlimited use mass transit pass.  And, if possible, take the bus. 3. Next time, use MAPSTR for general sightseeing.  This trip almost all of my entries were specialty food (sweets) or beer/cocktails.  I only went to a few of them. 4. The negatives in the apartment review are pretty much true.  Eg.  This apartment had the noisiest floors I've ever experienced. 5. Work a bit more on learning French.  They've become extremely adaptable to English but still... 6. Pack a little less stuff.  If only for the transport mobility. 7. Assume you can buy clothes and most other necessities if necessary. 8. This was a more interesting (

In a previous post, I told you about our lunch at Septime and our excitement over getting a dinner reservation later in our trip.  We scheduled this dinner as our last big Paris celebration since it was about 36 hours before our flight back to the U.S.  It was a great time with delicious food and fantastic wine pairings.  We were also pleased that the staff members who served us previously remembered us. The meal started with melted gouda cheese with homemade breadsticks, the only dish that was a repeat from our lunch. Add Scallops with celery leaf oil and lemon paired with sake (Maxine) Roasted leeks instead of scallops paired with Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley (Tom) Cauliflower mousseline with saffron creme topped with caviar and walnuts.   Tom's dish was topped with fermented pear instead of caviar.  These were paired with an interesting, very acidic wine from the Jura region of France. Roasted beets with smoked duck breast, ferm

Yesterday was the 4th week of demonstrations throughout France by the Gilets Jaunes.  First, a little bit of background and then I'll tell you about our experiences.  Gilet Jaune means yellow vest and refers to the bright yellow safety vests that drivers must carry in their cars.  These have become the symbol of the protests because the near term cause of the protests was the increase in the gas tax. The gas tax increase is an attempt by Macron to push drivers to use more climate friendly forms of transportation such as public transportation or hybrid vehicles.  The gas tax increase combined with higher world oil prices to dramatically increase the cost of transportation, especially for those who live outside the major cities and are forced to drive. The public perception is that Macron is president for the rich since the changes are only helping the wealthy.  The general population of working and middle class is suffering and having an increasingly difficult time making ends m