Au Revoir Paris

There isn't much we won't miss

our daily bread...

...oh so fresh farmers markets

smells like you've never 'seen' before

speciality stores that tickle every inch of your pallette

...except the cigarette smoke

Au Revoir Paris! Au Revoir!!

Learning things, Making friends

Amit managed to pick up some french (pas de probleme, c'est bon, voila) at the hospital, while I picked up the right accent and a chance for tons of conversation at Lutece Langue! I couldn't have been happier with this little private school where our class was never more than 6 students. Conversation in French was a wonderful common ground for the innumerable nationalities- Spanish, Japanese, English, German, American, Indian...


Meeting and getting to know Gwen and Pascal was great. They showed us the truly local flavor of Paris. With them, we tried Panache (beer with lemonade) for the first time, pigged out on gaufre avec creme marron (waffle with chestnut cream), wood-fired crepes, falafel at Le Marais...more panache....and even had the chance to watch a famous gypsy jazz guitarist Tchavolo Schmidt play.

Meeting Lise after 6 years

Lise is as crazy as ever. I couldn't believe it's been 6 years since she was an exchange student living with our family in India. She gathered the courage to get on that TGV from Besoncon and zoom 3 hours to Paris even though she hates the city, just to see me, her Indian sister. How much luckier could I get?

We walked around "our part of the city", watched her roll her own cigarette as she tried to convince Amit how it is healthier than the regular one, laid on the fake grass at Hotel de Ville to watch the Rugby World Cup on big screen, and chilled out catching up on old times...










Lise took a mental trip back to India with a whiff of the bowl of daal I made. We had long conversations over wine with a home-cooked Indian meal and started the next day with "Suki Chutney" on baguette!



And now, I have been officially introduced to an authentic French BD - Bande Dessin - in other words, french comics.

Solothurn, Geneva & Gex

Stryker invited Amit to tour their plant in Solothurn, Switzerland. He stayed at Hotel An Der Aare, which used to be a nurse's hospital back in 1747.

Besides ironing his shirt with a lead block from the 1700s, Amit had the opportunity to have a drink with a Swiss Olympic bob sledder and chat away about ACLs and what not.

Meanwhile, I was busy eating all kinds of stinky cheese
with Lea at 12 am! And Tarek joined us too.

After his visit, Amit joined Lea and me in Geneva. There's not much to see or do in Geneva unless you want to spend lots of Swiss Francs on the best watches in the world. As for the chocolates...the Swiss Francs melt easily off your hands for those!

The only attraction Jet d'Eau was not functional, as Amit's luck would have it. But we did get a sneak peek at Mont Blanc!

Lea hosted us at her place in Gex, 16 km across the border into France. She calls it a small dormitory town; most people who live there work in Geneva and leave on weekends to go to their 'original homes'. An interesting observation: there were probably a total of 5 billboards along the road to Gex, 3 of which advertised Indian restaurants! And of all the times that we crossed the border between France and Switzerland back and forth, not once were we stopped, or our passport checked. In fact, the borders weren't even manned except once.

At Lea's, we enjoyed a typical French-Swiss breakfast on her balcony, on a chilly sunny morning at the foothills of the mountains.

We laughed at the crazy tripod adventures with Patrick, tried Raclette for the first time and talked away into wee hours of the morning.

Way of (Parisien) Life

The smart way to make your way through Paris traffic...

or the sleek way to manoeuver through tourists...

I even spotted police on roller blades besides the good old fashioned ride on a horse...

...but none beat the latest

Velib is the new convenient way of "liberte a velo". Parisiens and tourists alike can ride to their heart's content (and pocket's too) between arrondisements, picking up or dropping off the bicycles at any of the numerous stations all over the city.

Lines are a way of life here, just like any big city. But for bread? Now that tells you something!
Man, Amit and I will really miss the baguettes, pain au chocolat, croissant du buerre, tarte au pommes...


The pedestrian-only bridge Quai Francois Mitterand or Pont des Arts is a popular docking point for youngsters and poor students who don't need to pay the price of a cafe to hang out.

In the late hours of the evening, it's hard to find a spot if you want to have your wine and cheese party like the rest. Amateurs are playing their music (perhaps practicing to get a license to play in the metro; yes, you need to be approved by the town hall and have a license to play at the underground metro stations), people breakdancing, friends teaching friends to twirl fire and then the usual.

Smoking
sipping wine
smoking
tearing crispy fresh bread
smoking
escargots, if you may
smoking
a cheese platter for dessert
smoking
smoking
smoking

Sites of Paris

Instead of standing in line to go up to the towers, I decided to practice French comprehension while sitting in the park behind Notre Dame and listening to little kids as they played.

After a barrage of rainy days in Paris, it seemed like all the tourists had decided to come see Sacre-Coeur on this sunny Saturday. A long way up several flights of steps and a whole new vista of Paris opens up. However, more interesting, just a few blocks away was the not so sacred part...

...not just a store, it's a supermarket!

....culminating at Moulin Rouge!

I thought visiting the Eiffel tower would get old, but I guess not. We spent more than a few afternoons lazing at the lawns, reading, admiring and playing stupid when the gypsies would come by asking if we "Espeaka Eanglish"

Paris by Night

We created a little slideshow of our Paris by Night pictures.
Click here to view

Marseille

The port town of Marseille ranks at the top of desirable cities for young French people to move to. Busy, dirty and noisy, it is hard to believe that this town was founded by Greek merchants back in 600 B.C. Walking around the town gives you a sense of rough defiance against the so-called bourgeois life the French lead. It is after all the "capital of immigrants" here- Arabs, sub-Saharan Africans, and the likes, sadly being shunned as 'non-French'.

Today, you find it bustling with sailors from all over the world, tourists from within France and neighboring countries of Europe and students who flock to its big university.


We visited Chateau d'If- the Alcatraz of Marseille. Even though originally built as a chateau, it is known for its use as a prison. Alexander Dumas based his novel The Count of Monte Cristo on a prisoner who had been held captive there. This prison also provides the backdrop for The Man in the Iron Mask.


view of Marseille from Chateau d'If

If we had another day, we would have loved to kayak this part of the Mediterranean sea to the steep limestone cliffs, better known as the "Calanques"

Meeting Lea in Annecy

I know Lea from my South Carolina days, 13 years ago, and we've kept in touch ever since. A town nestled amongst the French Alps was a perfect meeting place after 5 years! She brought along her baby- Tarek and I brought along mine- Amit!



We lucked out with a bright and sunny day. All day we walked along the shimmering lake, with Tarek taking a dip every now and then. He even made a new friend!

Amit fell in love with this quaint town- old European architecture...canals running to-and-fro...an alpine lake...mountains...what's not to love?

Some Tips

• Frommer's France 2007 is not accurate and thorough with a lot of information
• DO NOT go through Rail Europe to buy a Eurail Pass or any rail tickets. It's much easier and cheaper when done directly through the French SNCF
• With a Eurail/ France Saver Pass, it is free to travel on the intercity trains as many times as you wish within the validity period of the pass
• Every arrondisement in Paris has its own fresh markets. The Mairie or town hall/ tourism office and their website has info about the days/ location. The produce is simply marvelous and will save you some euros compared to the SuperMarche
• For apartment rentals, you need not go through an agency. You will end up paying an additional 500 euros for nothing. Also, before getting the "mandatory" insurance, check with the owners if they already have one that covers your apartment
• Many museums & monuments in Paris have free entry on the first Sunday of every month
• With a Bank of America ATM card, you can withdraw cash at any BNP Paribas ATM without paying a fee to either bank

Bordeaux

Not even a week in Paris, and we got sick of the dreary weather. Thanks to the Train de Grande Vitesse, we could jet-set 578km southwest of Paris in just 3 hours to warm and sunny Bordeaux. It's a beautiful city with an interesting juxtaposition of their ultra modern tramway running along cobblestone streets and ancient architecture all around.

Unfortunately, we were unable to catch a winery tour (completely booked during this tourist season) around the wine capital of the world, but were lucky enough to attend a wine tasting course at L'Ecole du Vin! We recommend this strongly; it's worth more than the 22 euros per person we paid.

Chateaux of Loire Valley

From Paris, we took the TGV to Blois and a bus takes you to the chateaux of Chambord, Cheverny as well as Blois. The most exciting discovery was that Herge's Marlinspike from Tintin was modeled after the chateau of Cheverny (see above & below). They even had a cool Tintin exposition as part of the visit.

Chateau de Chambord

Mont St. Michel

On the Northwest coast of France lies this Benedictine monastery, originally from the 8th century. Surrounded by water, it is connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway (sort of like Haji Ali in Bombay) accessible during low tide.

On our way up to the abbey, we had to pass through "diagon alley" (refer to Harry Potter), immensely crowded with tourists, and lined by 15th & 16th c. houses forming a little village at the base of the monastery.




On a clear day, because of its location, you can view the southern coast of England.

Tip: Do not pay for any of the museums - it is yet another tourist-fleecing scam! Get there early ('cause it takes ages to get around all the crowd of tourists going up the the abbey) to buy your ticket and take the guided tour, which is included with the admission price.