Go With the Flow

Paris May Not Be Everyone's Cup of Tea

Safely lazing on the three hour train ride from Paris to Amsterdam, I am taking time to reflect on our brief stay in Paris.  The city offers the international traveller many opportunities to experience French culture.   Efficient Metropolitan subway afforded the ease to flit from place to place.

The grandeur of Sacre Coeur, perched high above the city, the regal Notre Dame with its ornate stained glass eyes, the museum Louvre with its popular Mona Lisa and Medieval underground, and the opulent palaces dotting the wide open Champs Elysees offer scenes of periods  of wealth and power.  I preferred the charm of relaxing at a sidewalk cafe in Le Marais and discovering a clandestine Vegetarian restaurant, Le Grenier de Notre Dame, or ancient Shakespearean bookseller buried among the twisted streets of the Left Bank, which carried me back in time to the Middle Ages.

One would be remiss to expostulate on Paris without mentioning the rave worthy culinary delights.  My favorites were the flaky almond croissants at the neighborhood patisserie, the delicate, lacy crepes consumed with gusto at a sidewalk cafe at sunset, the warming chai soy latte at Starbucks in the rain while rushing frantically to catch this train , the earthy vegan French Onion soup at Le Potager du Marais, and the sweet apple Tarte Tatin at Le Grenier de Notre Dame.

Practicing a macrobiotic lifestyle in Paris can prove challenging , but we found dining establishments where veganism  and brown rice are respected as a life choice.  Although London seems far more vegan friendly, Parisians have made some positive progress toward a healthier lifestyle.

Now I would like to say a word or two about the French people in general.  While the British citizens we encountered were friendly, helpful and inviting, the French experience was, disappointingly, not so positive.  Unless you are fond of rude landlords from rentparis.com named Fabrice( feel free to complain on our behalf on the site) whose faulty dryer traps all your clothes and then he tells you insultingly that it is all your fault and you owe him money and with warnings of brazen pickpockets in every public space including Notre Dame, your visit to Paris may be infected with some negative emotions.  Innocent  requests for directions, even when uttered in "perfect" French, were met with dismissive looks and hurried impatient responses.  Barring these unpleasant episodes we did enjoy the positive aspects of the city, although I sincerely doubt KO will want to return anytime soon.

When one chooses to leave the familiar and travel the world, one must expect to experience irritating delays and mishaps.  It is important to realize that "sh-t happens" even far away from home.  If you should say, accidentally, throw away your tickets from Cornwall to London when you thought they were the used ones from London to Cornwall, purchase your replacement tickets with a smile!  If all your underwear, and half your clothes, are trapped in a dryer in Paris and you are on your way to Amsterdam, just buy new ones, wear your boyfriend's, or wash your sole pair out nightly.  If you search all over for brown rice and can not find any, force yourself to indulge in a delectable replacement chocolate croissant.  Meal means grain, after all, and croissants ARE made from grain.  And....if the metro is lacking elevators and peppered with steep stairs, get your sweet boyfriend to schlep all the heavy, unwieldy luggage  up and down the stairs and reward him with whatever he'd consider to be a treat. ( in this case, a promise to visit Amsterdam's Red Light District with him). Also remember to be patient and considerate while said boyfriend is healthfully chewing his bites of food one hundred times.( those of you who have ever eaten with KO will understand this veiled reference)

So, as we watch the Dutch countryside whiz by our big picture windows, we are anticipating our visit to Amsterdam, city of Van Gogh, canals, the second oldest synagogue in continual use, the Anne Frank house and...the Red Light District.  See you there!