Goodbye Paris -- See you again sometime?
(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. It's a city and that is often bundled with some less exciting things. Paris has so many aspects and some of them depend on what you look for.
It struck us earlier in this trip that being in Paris has become something like being in New York City. A big city. Sure it can be a bit alien. And a bit difficult to get around when compared to hopping in a car and parking at a free lot back home. And don't get me started on what driving in Paris is like!
But, it's become a city we understand and know where we can find things we enjoy doing. Sometimes though on this trip we've turned it into a "best of" where we're repeating the things we've done before. We wonder if there are new discoveries to be made?
Not intending to be maudlin, but as I walked around yesterday (past the Louvre, to Angelina for hot chocolate, across the city, and to the Marais), it struck me repeatedly that there's some possibility I will never see this city again. Not for any particular reason -- we are both healthy. But, in a lot of ways, we've had our fill of Paris and want to make sure that, if time does get short, we see more new places.
Although the cheese and bread are unsurpassed anywhere!
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. It's a city and that is often bundled with some less exciting things. Paris has so many aspects and some of them depend on what you look for.
It struck us earlier in this trip that being in Paris has become something like being in New York City. A big city. Sure it can be a bit alien. And a bit difficult to get around when compared to hopping in a car and parking at a free lot back home. And don't get me started on what driving in Paris is like!
But, it's become a city we understand and know where we can find things we enjoy doing. Sometimes though on this trip we've turned it into a "best of" where we're repeating the things we've done before. We wonder if there are new discoveries to be made?
Not intending to be maudlin, but as I walked around yesterday (past the Louvre, to Angelina for hot chocolate, across the city, and to the Marais), it struck me repeatedly that there's some possibility I will never see this city again. Not for any particular reason -- we are both healthy. But, in a lot of ways, we've had our fill of Paris and want to make sure that, if time does get short, we see more new places.
Although the cheese and bread are unsurpassed anywhere!
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