Paris: Miscellanea

A Cast of Thousands:

 

Arsenio Hall, Clay Aiken, Agnes, Indian Petitioner Girls, Elise, Kevin, Serge, Victor, Cigarette Smoking Girls, Flower Guy, Winston Churchill, Champs-Élysées Trashcan Mugger, Victor Hugo, Cat-sized Pigeons, Stinky Trinket Street Vendors, Atlanta Folks, Egyptian Mummies on Park Benches, Timid Asian Girls In Search of a Route to the Arc de Triomphe, The Little French Pony-Tailed Girl, Felicienne Foulard, The Japanese Coco Chanel Fan Club, The Pigeon Shouter, the Louvre Crew (Thomas Aquinas, Napoleon, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Rameses III), Be-capped Taxi Driver, Absolute Minimal Effort Du Lys Concierge, Frantic Asian Frenchman at the Du Lys, The Pants Barker, French Stomp, Beggar Lady #1, Asian Guitarists, Middle-aged Mad Max café waiter, Bald Brasserie Waiter, French-Learning Rosacea Guy, Dazed Bicycle Victim, Super Post Office Lady, Beggar Lady #2, Jules Verne-ish Bookseller, Chanel Counterlady at Le Bon Marché, Madame L’Oisseau, French Lurch, Old Guy Who Refused to Smile Getting His Picture Taken In Front of Notre Dame, Drunken Seine Polluter, Gelato Guy, cute toddlers riding trains, 24 French soldiers armed with submachine guns, American Airlines Drill Sergeant, and … Matt Damon

 

 

Top Six (Personal) Sights of Paris (in no particular order):

 

• The interior mosaics and stained glassworks of the Basilique du Sacre Coeur
• The exterior façade of the Notre Dame Cathedral
• Anywhere facing the Seine (any of the bridges, stone walls, or cobblestone pathways where you can hear the water flow) 
• The tree-lined paths of Les Jardines des Luxembourg
• Overlooking the sparkling Eiffel Tower at the top of any night-time hour 
• The Italian painting wing of the Louvre

 

 

Beret Sightings:

 

2 (one by me, one by my wife)

 

 

Blue/White Horizontal Striped Shirt Sightings:

 

1 (by my wife, not me, alas)

 

 

Cigarette Smoker and Scarf Wearer Sightings:

 

1,981 (give or take a couple dozen)

 

 

Incidents of Overt Rudeness:

 

0.5 – slight roll of the eyes by a waitress; could be directed at a lack of spousal indecisiveness ordering lunch rather than an over attempt at anti-Americanism.

 

 

What I’d Do Next Time in Paris:

 

• Climb the heights! Notre Dame (410 steps), Arc de Triomph (248 steps), Eiffel Tower (elevator, thank God!) 
• Take a boat ride on the Seine 
• Spend an entire day appreciating the Louvre 
• See Napoleon’s tomb in Les Invalides 
• Visit the Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise, the famous cemetery on the outskirts of northeast Paris (burial site of composers Bizet, Rossini, Poulenc, Chopin, writers Balzac, Comte, Proust, painters Seurat, Delacroix, Modigliani, and singers Maria Callas and Jim Morrison) 
• Take the little ones with us!