Le Temps de Vacances

One of the many benefits of my wonderful job is the vacation time. I have only been working for two months, but since we run on a trimester system, it's time for vacation. I got nearly two weeks off, and there was a snowball's chance in Riyadh that I was going to stay in Saudi Arabia, so I decided I would split my time between Paris, which I had long wanted to visit, and Budapest, where a friend of mine lives. Today, I'll write a bit about Paris, and in a few days, I'll write about Budapest and compare the two.

As fortune would have I was flying out about the same time as a couple of my colleagues, and indeed, the Brit and I were taking the same flight to Cairo where we would be connecting to our ultimate destinations. Contrary to my fears, getting out of the country was an easy and painless process, and getting through passport control on the way out was literally twelve times faster that it was for me coming in. Although, I did notice that while passing through the metal detector, someone had left a suspicious bag of organic green material near to where I was unloading my pockets. I just moved along quickly, and luckily no one noticed. Dave and I had a beer in Cairo, and I've seldom seen anyone so pleased.

I stayed at a hostel, so what? You get to meet interesting people, it's cheap, and there is free breakfast. Mine was close to the Gare de Nord train station--a major transportation hub, serving as both a railway station for trains going to northern Europe, and a metro hub for Paris subway trains. It wasn't so bad, despite the profusion of twenty-somethings and Americans, although most days I chose to break the rules and sip a beer in my room, rather than pay seven euros for a pint at the bar.

Having taught English to a group of French students last summer in Vancouver, I was lucky enough to have a guide in Paris. The student in question, Alex made his was down from Orleans on the Saturday, we met up with a couple of his friends and I was given the grand tour. That day, I saw Champs-Elysees, L'Arc du Triumph, La Basilisque du Sacre Coeur, and besides that we ate an authentic Brittany-style creperie, and bought absurdly expensive macaroons near the Eiffel Tower. It was a whirlwind tour, and a bit much to take in, especially since we were, at my insistence, speaking only in French. In the next four days, I would visit many of these places again.

The next day, I met a German named Thom, and I walked with him from the hostel to the opera house, then to the Louvre, and then on to the Sienne and got to see the Eiffel Tower the second time. I could go into great detail, but suffice it to say that my time in Paris constituted a lot of walking and a lot of looking at stuff. I think I averaged about ten kilometers per day of walking time. Paris is beautiful city with something to see around every corner. It's a gorgeous city--one that blends classical and modern styles seamlessly.

Despite it's beauty, I would not want to live in Paris--it's one big tourist trap, and it's expensive as hell. To give you and idea, a simple meal at a cafe costs just over twenty euro (about 32 dollars). The food I had in Paris, by the way, was forgettable...and I'm sorry to say, so was the coffee. One nice thing about Paris was that you could get a good selection of beer in corner stores for under two euro...but if you wanted hot food, you should be prepared to shell out at least seven euro for something cheap and greasy.

All in all, Paris is not very livable. Nothing much seems to be produced inside the city. Instead, it just seems to sustain itself by sucking up piles of cash brought in by tourists. I can only imagine would how much it would cost to rent. Although I enjoyed my time in Paris and was glad to visit, the next time I go to France, it's off to Tours or Toulouse, or Orleans. I think living in Paris would be much a kin to dating a high maintenance girl. Better to just have a fling.