Ooh La La

This is the last night of our 7 night Paris trip. My sister and her friend Deni left yesterday morning and took all of Paris' consumer goods with them. What they do isn't even called shopping, its called buying. "Hey, what are you guys doing today?" I ask. "Well, we're looking high and low to see what's left and then we're going to buy it." "Really, how do you know you want it if you haven't seen it yet?" "Don't be stupid Jared, we don't want it, we need it and we're going to have it." In related news, the Eiffel Tower is being moved piece by piece to the marshy outlying area of Tampa, Florida. Get yourself a nice steak while you watch it twinkle.

While not shopping the girls were on one of my self-imposed itineraries from hell. I believe we walked over 200 miles in just under 20 minutes. We went to the soon to be relocated Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, Musee D'Orsay, Napolean's Tomb (closed), The Catacombs (closed), The deportation memorial (closed), The Arc de Triomphe, Touleries Garden, The Rue Cler area, Versailles, the Latin Quarter and all along the Seine River in only four days. After they left, Tessa and I went to the Rodin Museum, back to the deportation memorial (closed again), through the Jewish quarter, up and down the Rue Cler, over to Montmartre and down through the sex district, stopping off to take pictures of the Moulin Rouge, the Erotic Art Museum, the last vineyard in Paris and all the old haunts of Renoir and Picasso.

Today is the first time we basically just walked around with 'no particular place to go'. Unlike the rest of the trip which switched between luke warm and cold, today was fareeezzzzing cold and windy. Even so, there were still a zillion people enjoying a nice walk around town. With so much to see, you can't blame them.

We are staying in a great flat in a fantastic area of town. Less than 10 minutes walking to Notre Dame. I found the flat on Parisattitude.com and although they force you to wire your payment for the flat to the owner's bank account, its totally worth it. We can walk to absolutely everywhere from our flat #2191. The place is two stories, two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, a living and dining room, washer/dryer, and great big windows. Its a bit kooky as the upstairs is really meant for those 5'6" or less, so I duck as I walk through. But no pasa nada as the downstairs offers soaring ceilings and room to roam.

A somewhat funny observation is that after living in Barcelona for 8 months, I actually consider the French here to be very friendly. Maybe its just relative but every store we walk into, they say, "bonjour" (good day) and they always say thank you and good bye also. The city is remarkably clean and even though the guide book warns us repeatedly about pickpockets, the seedy element is not very strong at all.

The food has been very yum. These French know how to eat. Although if you ask the American stomachs, they would probably disagree. The bread is just fantastic and the cheese can't be beat. Seriously, with over two hundred choices of cheese at the neighborhood market, can you really go wrong? I think not. We did have a few so-so meals but that's what happens when you're trying to please everyone.

Ever since my first international trip to Paris way back in 2000, I've been dying to have a comparable quality French Onion soup. The first attempt was a terrible $15 failure washed down with a $9 cappuchino which was also a failure. But redemption came in the form of a $12 bowl filled with cheese, onions, bread and love. Its worth making the trip just for the soup.

Other observations; Tessa hates museums of every sort so if you take her to one, even if she says she wants to go, she really doesn't and will remind you of her desire to be absolutely anywhere else in the world in every room. Tessa's comment about the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, "I'm not impressed, can we go outside?". Rachel is always cold and upholds the Friedman female family tradition of talking like there's no tomorrow. Deni can't find a decent bite to eat in all of France and I follow THE BOOK (Rick Steve's Paris 2008-absolutely awesome) like its the holy grail. I also drag everyone to see everything that may be even minutely interesting then read to whoever will listen. But even with all that being said, I think all would agree, this was a fantastic trip!!!

Next up, Budapest in two weeks. Tessa and I are traveling with some IESE classmates, Eric (on exchange from MIT) and Nani (a second year at IESE who is graduating in May). Eric has family in Budapest and has promised us some home cooked Goulash. As long as its not just like mom used to make, I can't wait.