The Early Spring Update

The Street Teacher Visits - Paris!

Surprise surprise!  Yes, I finally got all my frequent-flyer points together and booked a round-trip flight to the City of Light.  There must be a reason I still remember the French I took for six years - through junior and senior high school - and for 6 weeks at the Alliance Française in New York (during the Monica Lewinsky dust-up - that's how I remember the time, because our teacher was so amused by the "moral outrage" that would have been dismissed in a moment in France!).

I was so nervous about choosing the flight - the right flight - that I simply called my agent: American Express Travel.  After all, it was their "points" I would use, so why not get that out of the way and be most efficient about it.  

Well, as many of you may know, the least expensive flights are rarely the most direct ones.  So, I may have booked through American Airlines, but it was Iberia that took me first to Madrid, then to Paris.  The photo above was taken from the window seat of the second leg of that flight - a little cramped for sure, but for just a little less than two hours - although we did have to wait on the ground for 45 minutes before taking off.  And the first, night flight I had the aisle seat.  Much better. 

But the plane was full indeed; the young woman sitting next to me was a graduate student at the Stern School of Business at NYU with about 15 students on their way to Morocco to study the way women are treated in that country.  A most "un-spring-break-like" Spring Break, indeed! 

Landing in Madrid at about 6 in the morning (I left JFK I think a little before 7 on the previous evening), I had a connection to make for the ultimate arrival at Orly in Paris at 10:10.  

But how to know where the flight is! 

Sure!  The Airport is gorgeous - but there was - is - no signage upon exiting customs directing us to that connection - none whatsoever!  All those students were, of course, connecting to an entirely different flight, so where they were going wasn't necessarily where I would go - and did they know where to go? 

The airport is huge - and makes JFK seem like LaGuardia in comparison.  But, of course, in spite of seeing no one who was official in any way, I managed to find one sign with all the flights on it; there was no gate, yet, but at least I knew where to look for it.  

Yes, after that 45 minute wait on the ground, we're off to Orly - and arrive 10 minutes early.  They're tricky, these pilots. 

Yes!  Off the RER B at St. Michel/Notre Dame, and I'm in the Latin Quarter!  Who couldn't love this?!  I'm only a few blocks from my hotel - although, truth be told, it was a challenge to navigate the unusual arrangements of the streets.  Those of you who think getting around in Greenwich Village can be a challenge - well!  Paris for a new-comer can be a real challenge! 

My room was ready - I had arrived after 12 - and I went up.  Here's my view out one of the two windows of my room.  Quite adequate - and only on the fourth floor (the ground floor there is 0, not 1, by the way - and there is an elevator), so it would be easy to go in and out.  Only 35 rooms in this little hotel (The Hotel Central Saint Germain, at 3 Rue Champollion). 

My room - 

- was quite comfortable - although this picture may betray the fact that I took this picture in the latter part of the day - after my requisite tasting of red wine (I always bought wine for less than 3 Euro - or $3.86 - wine is the one thing that is really cheap there).

But once I dropped my bag - I was out on the street again.  Paris is definitely a walking city.  You simply have to walk; I took the metro occasionally (and you should also at least buy the "Carnet," or ten ticket choice: its "full price" is 12.70 Euro, whereas an individual ticket is 1.70.  Do the math, and you'll see that the individual price is cheaper than New York's - although one cannot transfer freely to a bus, although one can, within zones, transfer between the suburban RER trains (which take one to the airports) and the Metro for free.  Definitely worth it. 

There are all sorts of "passes" available, and if you're intending to visit museums then they're worth checking out: http://goparis.about.com/od/transportation/ss/Metro_and_Buses_4.htm and http://www.parismetro.com/, which last site covers almost everything you could imagine doing there.  It will consume a whole day to determine just which package will suit your desires - but it may be worth it!  

Suffice it for this traveler, however, to say that I didn't indulge in the Louvre, or the Gare d'Orsay, or even some of the smaller museums.  Except for the Musée des Beaux Arts, which I stumbled upon as I walked - on a day when it was free, as it happened - I didn't visit too many obvious tourist sites.  

Except, of course, for Notre Dame. 

Yes, it was a little cloudy that day, and rainy even, but not a deluge, and nothing I couldn't manage with my umbrella.  (No, I didn't betray my nationality with a baseball hat!  I had a beret - which I lost over there, and which few French in Paris actually wear.) 

This year, however, is very special for the Cathedral de Notre Dame, for it is celebrating the 850th year since it's construction was begun. 

So there are tourists!  But, and in a way this felt a little weird, most of them were French, and French school children too.  So, I was among the French nonetheless virtually all the time. 

I arrived on March 16, a Saturday, so I was looking forward to attending services at Notre Dame on March 17, St. Patrick's Day.  So, I got up early the next morning - 

- and had my petit dejeuner formüle for 4 Euro early, looking out toward the Place St. Michel.  After I  walked the short distance over to Notre Dame. 

Yes, I could think, well, it's smaller than the Cathedral of St. John the Divine - but it's finished and it's 850 years old!  I was there comfortably early, before the 8:30am service, and found a good seat in the first 10 or 15 rows of the nave. 

Ah, no, I couldn't imagine Quasimodo swinging on his bell rope to rescue Esmeralda - but I'll have a greater appreciation of the movie when I see it again! 

End - Part 1