Wednesday September 18, 1985, 1:30am, Hotel Elysa, Paris
I am sitting here in my room soaking my feet in the bidet. Not exactly what it’s intended for but who cares? My feet are quite tired and I’ve managed to develop 2 blisters one on each toe next to the little ones. It must be the fit of the shoes.
I slept from 6p to 8p got up, dressed and walked my usual path down Blvd St. Michel toward Notre Dame. After a bit of meandering, I walked around the Tuilleries down to le Place de la Concorde — a beautiful view of le Place and the Arc de Triomphe further up the Champs Elyseé. I continued back along the other side of the Tuilleries along the Seine across the Pont Royale, and back to my favorite (cheap) food haunt, la rue de la Huchette.
I had a nice dinner for 69F ($8) — avocado vinaigrette, steak garni with French fries, vanilla ice cream, espresso, and a demi-bouteille de Bordeaux. I did not eat until 11:30pm and finished around 1am.
Impressions:
It is difficult to express how one feels about Paris. It is a city where it seems that quality of life is the raison d’être. Quantity and material things don’t appear to be as important. It is OK to like material things, especially in clothing and other accoutrements, but it all fits a certain attitude. I was very impressed by what I saw today in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
Jardin_du_Luxembourg
Old people have something to do: a place to congregate with their contemporaries. Most older people in DC are stuck in front of the TV afraid to go out, and there isn’t much to go out for. People really seem to respect what is beautiful here. In parks it is OK to walk on the grass, but not in les jardins. Men, young and older, playing cards or chess and children romping about after school made a lasting impression.
This is certainly a place for lovers! Many times I have seen couples (young, old, and in between) strolling hand in hand or kissing not so much as an expression of passion but rather in the spirit of really enjoying the person they are with. Of course, that reminds me of my own loneliness, and I feel a little hurt inside.
I have not had the company of anyone since I came to Europe (except Neville in London and the Walters' on the train). Just to have someone to talk with would be such a great pleasure. This loneliness is a drag. Will my whole trip be like this?
My feet are turning into prunes, so I will take them out of the bidet and finish this later.
It is now 5:15am. Lesson to be learned. Don’t drink espresso at 1am or you won’t sleep for hours unless your system is very tolerant of caffeine! Since I am still awake, perhaps I should write a little more.
I seem to have my loose bowels under control now. Must be the good food. Thank god the French have the sense to have public toilets along the main streets. Apparently the old pissoires are all gone now. I have not seen a one. In their place is something new. It’s an automatic toilet. I had occasion to use one today. It costs 1F which is placed in a slot and then the door opens. There is this strange seat where one sits – sort of a plastic groove. After doing whatever, simply open the door. The door closes behind you and locks for a minute while the whole seat area apparently rotates into the back and is scrubbed with disinfectant. Very ingenious! Assures privacy and cleanliness for 12 cents!
I forgot to mention earlier that while going to American Express the other day I walked along some of the grand boulevards, especially Blvd des Cappucines, then down to Place Vendôme, and along St. Honoré. This area is very “uptown” in appearance. The buildings seem more formal, lots of large businesses and many large and expensive stores. At Place Vendôme major jewelers like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and banks are situated. I remember looking at one ring – nothing special – for 136,000F ($16,000)! I can’t imagine what the diamond and ruby necklace next to it must have cost. All in all I find I am not nearly as comfortable on the Right Bank as I am on the Left. The Right seems to be for the well to do and the Left more for just regular people.
It is now 6am. I’ll try to get a couple of hours sleep before breakfast.
Why did you change hotels? Are the two hotels close to each other? Interesting comments on the Right and Left banks of the river. Are the buildings on the Right bank a lot newer, or does the area just cater to the more affluent? Creative use of the bidet ... it took me awhile to figure out how you were probably using the bidet as a footbath; were you sitting on the rim all scrunched up with your feet insdie? Or were you standing in the thing while you wrote your journal, or perhaps lying on your back on the floor with your feet daggled over the sides, or had you brought a chair in from the other room, or were you sitting sideways on the toilet?
ReplyDeleteOn another topic - what card games were the people in Jardin du Luxembourg playing?
Oh my stars! Thank you Gerry! I missed an entry! I have fixed it. If you go back to part IV,the explanation for the hotel change is there.
ReplyDeleteTo explain Right bank vs Left bank I will give you a California analogy: Right bank stuffy affluent think Beverly Hills. Left bank is more relaxed,think Berkeley. I'm sure someone here can give a better analogy. The Sorbonne is on the left and just down the street from where I was staying.
As for the bidet - I love your imagery! There was no toilet in the room, that was down the hall. (More about that later.) I pulled up a small desk chair and leaned on my knees to write while my feet were soaking.
I have no idea what card games people were playing as I did not get so close that they might think me rude.
Thanks for reading this so carefully. It is an honor and I am glad you found my goof.