Thursday, September 19, 1985, 6:45pm
My feet are on fire!
I went to Versailles this afternoon, after eating lunch across the
street in the Jardin. I took the RER
which is sort of the express subway/train that continues out to the
suburbs. Versailles is about 15 to 20
miles out of the city. My roundtrip
ticket was about a $1.00!! I did not go
inside, though maybe I should have. I
walked around the great expanse of formal gardens and little woods.
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| The view of the gardens behind the palace |
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| Versailles Gardens |
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| Rear of the palace |
At the far end of the gardens, I was taking a little rest by
a fountain and ran into this guy who started chatting me up. He turned out to be a very nice! It was great to have a conversation with
someone. Up until now all my
interactions have been business related - concierge, shopkeepers, ticket
persons, waiters etc. They don’t have
the time or inclination for conversation or even speaking slowly enough for me
to understand.
Noel Kintonouza is from Benin who will be studying for
degrees in French and English at the University of Grenoble. His birthday is on Christmas, hence the name
Noel. We had a wonderful conversation
mostly in French, covering many topics mostly ourselves. His father is catholic but also managed to
have four wives. Of his father’s many children Noel is the only one to get an
education. (Talk about religion adapting to the local culture!) He is single
hopes to work in Gabon or the Ivory Coast for five or six years then return to
Benin to be a teacher. He hopes to be
able to save more money because Gabon and Ivory Coast pay 6 to 7 times what he
could make teaching in Benin.
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| Looking back toward the palace |
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| Fountain |
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| Another fountain |
We talked about visiting each other and exchanged
addresses. He is staying with friends
out in the suburbs, and has to travel to Normandy to see his French
family. He’ll be in Paris next Monday or
Tuesday to take the TGV to Grenoble. It
was really nice to have a real conversation!
[2012 Note: Noel and I did keep
in touch for a few years after this trip. The last I had heard from him he had
gotten married while in Grenoble, then divorced. His last letter told me he was
teaching English in Scotland. We have since lost touch.]
PS. The weather
remains gorgeous – sunny and pleasant!
What luck!
Saturday, September 21, 1985, 10:30 am
I didn't write in here yesterday because I was on the move
all day. I didn't get back here until
10:00 PM and I was tired and depressed.
I left here fairly early and bought bread, cheese, and water
for my lunch. I walked down to the Ile
de la Cité for tours of Notre Dame and la Conciergerie and then walked over to
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| La Conciergerie |
the Pompidou center. The center is for
modern art. I went in and found the art
boring, but the building is interesting from the outside. From the Pompidou I walked through a
neighboring area called the Marais. I
was going to take the metro to Sacre Coeur, but ended up walking instead. It's a long walk!
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| Sacre Coeur |
Sacre Coeur is more interesting from the outside than
inside. The area known as Montemartre is
a high hill overlooking much of the city.
The artistic element in Paris is there also. I saw some delightful paintings there, but
the prices of $300 to $500 were beyond my pocket book. I did buy a dumb little marionette and
finally had my Ricard Pastis at a café while
eating the cheese and grapes I had left from lunch. Mary Belle told me that view of the city at
night was very worthwhile from here. As
it turns out I didn't think so. It was
OK but not fantastic.
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| Art for tourists at Montmartre |
The walk to the nearest metro stop was also an
experience. In an earlier entry I
mentioned that I have not really seen evidence of a black underclass here. Well I found them. They appear to be African immigrants and are
usually found at tourist sites selling automatic birds (wind them up and they
fly), pocket books, and bracelets. Their
language sounds African in cadence and pronunciation but they really could be
from anywhere. They look African also in color and shapes of faces. Apparently some
live in the areas near Montmartre, but others live outside the city. Going to the metro I was beginning to feel
that I was in a neighborhood I should not be in at night. I was relieved to reach the metro stop. It seemed that other tourists at that stop felt uncomfortable also. It wasn’t that
most of the locals were black, but it was in the way they carried themselves,
their manner of dress, and the looks they gave us tourists, that made me feel
uncomfortable. I have walked the streets of DC late at night enough to have a
sense when things just don’t feel right. I was glad to be back in “Yuppie land”
here in the Latin Quarter. (Apparently in France it is not blacks that suffer
the most from discrimination, but the Arabs. I suspect this has much to do with
French history and their involvement with Algeria.)
Today will be some business and maybe some shopping. I need
to go and check on train schedules to Florence. I also need to change some
money. I think I will also check out a department store. I have seen some nice things here, and would
like to buy some nice gifts but Paris isn’t cheap! At the department store I
could charge my purchases.
I really need to write some post cards. I was too pooped
last. I went right to bed.
