What I'll miss:
* The sheer man-made beauty of both banks of the Seine
* The Métro. Parisians complain, of course, but it almost always worked for me
* Eurostar within easy reach
* Being able to get Indian food delivered to the door (even the Parisian version is better than nothing)
* Rebecca. Who is Rebecca Schofield? Bill Taylor
asked the question when I used Rebecca's computer to make an e-mail
response to his photo website. She is, or was, my assistant. As an
Englishwoman living in Paris (with a rural bolt hole), and as wife,
mother, go-getter and unrivalled collector of friends, she knows just
about everything about living in France * And Rebecca will miss being reminded of Robin, the young
work experience visitor who wrote in his subsequent school project of
her dynamism and her ability to keep her desk tidy "amidst general
disorder". He also lopped 15 years off our ages
* That view. I tried my best to give the impression of being blasé, but
you cannot keep a straight face for long while feigning indifference to
a panorama that begins with the Louvre, takes in the Tuileries with the
Musée d'Orsay, twin spires of Ste Clotilde and the Assemblée Nationale
as backdrop before arriving at the Eiffel Tower via Invalides and the
Champs Elysées. Breathtaking
* Keeping relatively fit by fast-walking circuits of the Tuileries
* Parisian jazz
* Lifts to Parisian badminton clubs from Ming Lam, my friend from the Auberge des Gourmets Chinese restaurant.*
Being able to walk to functions at the Elysée, Quai d'Orsay or British
Embassy. In fact, being able to walk to most places in the city centre
* Easy access to live English football whether or not you secretly have one of those Sky cards at home
And what I won't:
* The price of everything from mushroom omelette and chips to an unremarkable baguette in the 1st arrondissement
* The army of beggars. Paris seems to have more than most
cities and a large proportion seems genuine, distinguishing them from
the shift working professionals I have seen in action from Lyons to
London. If the current wave of protests in support of France's SDFs -
sans domicile fixe - inspires effective, humane action, it has my
blessing
* Having to count a few extra seconds as drivers whizz by after
pedestrian crossing lights turn green, and even then venturing out
warily
* The feeling at the height of summer that there is no escape from the clammy heat
* Clanking old lifts that spot heavy bags a kilometre off and render themselves en panne
* And yes, there has to be more. But for once, I have run out of negative thoughts.....for now.
Labels: Assemblée Nationale, beggars, drivers, Eiffel Tower, Elysée, Eurostar, heat, Indian food, Invalides, Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Métro, Paris, Rebecca Schofield, SDF, Seine, Ste Clotilde, Tuileries
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