HELLO FROM FRANCE!

3/27/06 HELLO FROM FRANCE!

I'd like to thank the three to four people who read this blog on a consistent basis for letting me take my vacation last week. My wife and I, along with our 6 month old baby girl Brooklyn and my mom (fulfilling her lifelong dream) spent four days in Paris, and three in Aix-en-Provence (Aix is pronounced 'X'). Paris was certainly amazing. As many times as you can see the Eiffel Tower on TV, you're never prepared for the sheer size of it. The Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, the Louvre were all as good as advertised. Through some connections, I was even able to have dinner with half a dozen Parisians, who were very nice and spoke slow enough that I could get the gist of what they were saying (thank goodness for all those French CDs I listened to!). One tip for the Paris traveler- don't throw away your subway ticket if you're still in the subway system! We'd seen people throwing away their tickets as they passed through the initial gates, and just assumed we should do the same. However, just before the exit gates in front of the Eiffel Tower, we were stopped in what my mom called "The Paris Shakedown". A line of security officers barred the exit, and asked for ticket stubs from everyone. Luckily, my mother and I still had ours, but my wife did not. "$35 Euros". What? "No speak English". I asked in French if we could just turn around and go back. "Non." We surmised this might just be a way of gaining extra revenue from tourists, being that no Parisians would actually be coming to the Eiffel Tower on a Sunday afternoon. We were forced to pay, but aside from this $50 train ticket, everyone we met in Paris was very helpful and polite, from the hotel staff to waiters to people we met on the street.

Aix-en-Provence, just three hours away via the superfast (186mph) TGV train, has a completely different feel than fast paced Paris. There are little winding Medieval streets lined with glamorous jewelry stores, fish sellers, clothing shops and bakeries, that just go on for blocks and blocks. Again, its something more that you feel than you can see in books or online. Also, people are very friendly, but in a different way than in Paris. They're much more chummy and laid back, and smiles are more plentiful. If you buy a decent amount of flowers, they'll give an extra half dozen for free. At our hotel, they came around every afternoon and gave us a bunch Aix's famous almond candy. My wife had a nice way of putting it. "Paris is amazing, with all the history and beauty. But you could live in Aix-en-Provence for a while."