The Greenseids' Great Adventure

Impressions of France

Overall, Paris exceeded our expectations and memories. It helped that the weather was perfect; 60s at night, 80s during the day. It also helped that it was the first stop on our adventure and we were all excited and ready to finally stop dreaming and start doing.

Surprisingly, one way in which Paris exceeded our expectations was the cost. We spent less than we budgeted and did all that we had planned to do and more. The food in particular was inexpensive (and of high-quality and delicious too!) Part of that was the result of eating many meals in our apartment, part due to the strong dollar, and part just the prices were low. This morning I went to buy 3 plain croissants and 1 chocolate croissant. They cost 4.60 euros, about $5. Some yogurt and a glass of milk and our breakfast cost less than $7 for the four of us. Our fanciest lunch of the week, with steak frites for me, melon and jambon for Adam, a sandwich and fries for Arija, and raw salmon over avocado and rice for Lija, along with two glasses of wine, was 62 euros including the tip (which the elegant Parisian gentleman sitting next to us said was "too much.") Additionally, all the major sites were free for the kids and we purchased an unlimited weekly transportation pass for just $20+ dollars each.

Let me get back to the food since it's one of my favorite subjects. It was, as we expected, terrific. Every piece of bread was better than any piece of bread back home. And the butter - I'm not sure what they feed those cows but they seem to be incredibly happy. It’s no surprise, but the whole country takes pride in what they offer in the supermarket, what they offer on the menu, and certainly what is put on the plate. We didn’t go crazy jumping from one Michelin starred restaurant to another, we just ate at home and in cafes/bistros that were convenient as we were out about town. And for us, it didn’t matter, it was all really good.

Our apartment, while small compared to the house we left in MN, was lovely. Beautiful wood floors, intricate crown molding, a great kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and a large living/dining room made us instant converts to AirBnB. Not sure I’ll stay in a hotel again if given the choice. That said, there were a few odd things which the kids enjoyed remarking about: The toilet was at one end of the apartment and the sink for the bathroom was at the other end, so we were constantly walking around trying to wash our hands. The shower was open with a tile floor and roughly 5’x8’. We needed much less space, so a toilet could have easily fit in the bathroom with the sink and the shower. There was no hot water heater like we have in the US. Instead, they have any instant hot system that heats the water on demand. What that means is that every time you turn on the water in the kitchen, even to refill the Brita filter pitcher, the hot water heater would ignite.

The apartment was in the 10th arrondissement near to Gare de l'est train station. A "gentrifying" working class area - real Paris not a tourist area. We loved living in the city. With 3 metro lines a 5 minute walk away, a supermarket across the street, and a patisserie around the corner, everything we needed, at least for our week here, was readily available. I think the kids particularly enjoyed being in the middle of an urban environment. When we needed ice cream we could walk across the street to get it. And if you happened not to have enough cash, just text your dad to toss more down from the window!

Being a city, and particularly being a city shaken by attacks so recently, the French are taking safety and security very seriously. Everywhere we went there were multiples layers of security including: visual bag checks, airport type screening with x-ray machines and magnetometers, local police, transit police, national police, soldiers wearing bullet proof vests and carrying machine guns. Most stores, particularly on the Champs Elysees, had their own internal security and also checked bags and backpacks. Lastly, there were police driving around everywhere. We had one situation in which a street was blocked off because of a suspicious package, but of course, it was nothing. Overall, we felt safe and assured that if there were a problem, it would be dealt with swiftly.

The only safety issue we had was at Montmartre, climbing the stairs to Sacre Coeur. As we turned the corner in a shaded area there was a group of men on the stairs above us, trying to put string bracelets on our arms in exchange for money (a "religious tradition" one stated). Both Lija and I were accosted. Her arm was grabbed by one man and another grabbed my arm with both his hands. We both managed to twist our arms forcefully and break their hold (or they let us go) but it was frightening, even if only for a few moments, although in such a popular tourist location nothing too bad could have occurred. And it gave us the opportunity to talk to the kids about how to handle similar situations.

At the end of our week, all of us felt like we would really enjoy living in France but for one small problem. None of us speaks French (See The Beginning). While just about everyone we encountered spoke some version of English, we were embarrassed that we didn’t have the tools to communicate effectively. Given our range of languages, this is unusual for us and it made us uncomfortable. Not an insurmountable problem, but definitely a logistical one we would have to overcome. That said, we are not the first people to fall in love with the place in which they are vacationing. And we all are interested in returning to the South of France this spring, should time permit.

Anyway, on to England! We expect poorer fare, but somewhat less of a language barrier.