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.