the Red Haired King of the coffee shop

I love coffee shops. There were 6 in the hipster hood within 3-4 blocks from me. There were probably 25 more within a mile. I just like sitting in them. It's relaxing.

Over here there are not as many that are strictly coffee shops. I've found very few.. There are, OF COURSE, Starbucks in tourist areas. 

So I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now. I walked in and went to the counter, like you do. A red haired employee said something to me in French. Huh? Oh no, no, no, I was swiftly asked if I was staying or doing takeaway and directed to have a seat there or maybe there...There was one table between two people or two tables next to each other, so I went to the second. Oh no, no, no (we're going to call this guy red haired guy frowned...uh oh. (We're going to call this guy the Red Haired King of the coffee shop)

There were 3 people behind me. I guess I wasn't supposed to sit at the place with two tables. He gave me a frown and I put my tail between my legs and quickly retreated to the other table. All was right in the world and everybody breathed a collective sigh of relief. 

Next to me are two Americans talking about their business experiences in Europe and the difference approaches. In other words the American are "how do we get as much money as fast as possible" and the Europeans are-"let's talk about this and have some coffee (or tea..and do you have any biscuits?)".

King red hair flits about the place rearranging the seats of patrons.. The other employees his terrified subjects trembling in the corner. Why do I get the feeling you don't want to come in here on one of his bad days? 

He keeps asking the other Americans if they need anything ELSE (a little more emphasis every TIME). In other words, the coffees gone, move on losers.

I decided the trick is-keep a little bit of coffee in the cup to avoid the wrath of the Red Haired King, keeper of the Royal Coffee Shop Time Clock. . I'm gonna milk these last few drops for the next two hours dammit!

By the way, whatever happened to lingering over meals or coffee?

I did get a very nice design in my coffee which I appreciated. (See photo above which I really should put on instagram because that's what you do. Also thought their cups with "another?" at bottom were cute).

Will I go back? Of course I will, are you kidding?

Five eiffel towers for $1!!

 If I ever had any illusion of living in a big city, Europe has dashed those thoughts. I could not live in the middle of crowds so large you can barely walk down the street. Subway cars so packed, people have their face against the window. Lines, everywhere lines. 

Today we went to a new hotel 30 minutes from the old one. We let 5 trains pass by because they were so crowded.

The thing is we have been in Europe in what is considered the low season of tourism. I cannot fathom what it is like in Barcelona or Paris in the middle of summer. Add in heat, humidity and tourist trinket hawkers, instagrammers in the middle of the streets getting pictures. Getting into museums, restaurants without a couple month prior reservation would be impossible.

Everybody must breathe a sigh of relief in late September when tourist traffic lessens. Even when it lessens, there are still a lot of tourists here. 

Five eiffrThese cities, because they are old tend to be gritty like New York, but the subways are so much cleaner. 

There are as many homeless people here as in the United States. They sleep on the streets. There are a few tents here. No tent cities. 

In some countries the homeless just sat with a cup and quietly asked for money. In the UK they were more aggressive. In Spain there were people sitting and wailing about their situation. I saw the same person do that every day. There were people who sat in a hunched over prayer position with their cup in front of them. People go into restaurants going from table to table asking for money.  The most striking thing I saw was a couple of women laying in the middle of the sidewalk in a rich area with their head and face covered with a cup out. Same problem, different expressions of it.

Safety wise, I haven't felt threatened by anyone in any country. We have used common sense and been careful. 

One big difference is that there are very few mentally ill people acting aggressive and weird on the street here. That is very common in U.S. cities. I haven't seen any really drunk or high people either. You might think, well, you are in tourist areas. In Minneapolis, it doesn't matter where you are, you deal wit this. 

There are no homeless sleeping on public transit here. Many places you have to have a ticket for access. No drunk or drugged up people. There were so many countries that operate their trains and trams on an honor system but you still don't see it. I swear we could have gone through half of Europe and not paid a dime on trains, trams, even a couple longer distance trains. Nobody would have known.

The conclusion: Big cities with millions of people here have many advantages. There are great museums, monuments.concerts, restaurants, beautiful architecture and much more. They are great to visit, but I would t want to live in them.

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November 05, 2022 at 07:00PM

the difference between Americans and Europeans

I've finally realized why most Europeans are less fat than Americans. They are going up 25 sets of subway stairs a day.(har) They are WALKING  up 4 or 5 flights of stairs to their apartments in old buildings with no elevators. They don't drive cars and do a lot of walking.

They are dodging foxes, rats and running away from sewer smells. They are standing waiting for buses that are either early or late, never on time. They are squeezing through crowds on the streets or in subway trains. They are sweating because there is no air conditioning in buildings or in their own homes. 

They are hanging wash because there are no dryers in the majority of homes. They are running to grocery stores daily because there are no big supermarkets in Europe. 

They linger over food and meals in restaurants instead of the gulp and run in America. There's a reason we call it fast food people. They spend evenings out of their homes, in parks, taking leisurely walks,  instead of sitting in front of a television set. 

Work and money are not the be all and end all of their lives. They are not what they do for a living. Spending time with family and friends tops everything else. There is a balance in life  but the balance seems to mostly swing toward relaxation and happiness.

  Just one persons observations.

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November 04, 2022 at 06:45PM

American apathy vs French activism during times of turmoil

France is my kind of place. The French have been a rebellious people throughout their history. If you look at their history, it has been one rebellion, protest, riot after the other continuing to this day.  

In 1229 there was a 2 year strike by students at the University of Paris. What's interesting about this is it started during a festival in which students got drunk at a tavern, there was a fight over a bill and the students were beaten up  and thrown out. They came back the next day and beat up the owner and destroyed the tavern. Students were not subject to penalties under regular law because the university was controlled by the church. This incident angered the towns population which led to authorities arresting may students and some were killed in the process. The strike started after that. 

Through the centuries here there have been riots, strikes, violent civil unrest, guerilla warfare. A lot of it was about taxes, food shortages, cost of bread. In 1789  the monarchy was overthrown in the 1st French Revolution. What followed were power struggles to get control of the government leading to the dictatorship of Napoleon. A couple revolutions later and a republic was established.

In May a period of civil unrest occurred with large demonstrations against capitalism, consumerism and American Imperialism (!). There was severe repression leading to a general strike by unions involving 11 million workers. Violence by the police and the government only spurred the movement leading to riots in the streets. There was fear that the government would be topppled and de Galle left the country for a short period.  An agreement was reached with unions for wage increases. The parliament was dissolved and new elections were held.

Very recently, there was a demonstration of thousands of Parisians on October 15, a couple weeks before we got here, about  cost of living increases. There have been strikes on oil rigs and in nuclear plants. Some strikes were settled. The cost of living is only going to go up no doubt leading to more demonstrations. Meanwhile U.S. citizens sit around, apathetic about the same situation, with little inclination to do anything about it. 

  

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November 04, 2022 at 01:08PM

Observations on my 4th day in France

Tourists act crazy in Paris, particularly instagrammers and tik tok types. They literally take their life in their hand to get a photo or video. 

They stand in the middle of the street, cars streaming around them, striking poses. Today at the Arc de Triomphe they were literally going out in the intersection and then having someone film them walking forward. It's scary but funnier than shit to watch.

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The Paris Metro is similar to the London Underground in one way: Stairs. When you transfer trains it is down hallways and up and down stairs. The difference: the metro here is remarkably clean and bright. The prices are SO MUCH. cheaper than London.

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Paris is similar to Vienna in that there are rows and rows of apartment buildings one after another for blocks and blocks that seem to go on forever. They are all the same height-about 5 stories. They all have ornate Juliet balconies. Some are architecturally unique. The difference: In Vienna almost every building had statues on top of them. 

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Paris is probably one of the coolest looking cities at night. All the restaurants are lit up at night in the neighborhoods and looking down the street is really cool. It feels like the city comes alive in the neighborhoods at night.

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French is such a beautiful sounding language. It's soothing to the ear. We have heard English with a  British accent, Scottishaccent, a Welsh accent, an Irish accent. We have heard German, Catalan, Spanish. Nothing is like French. 

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Something I  appreciate about French trains, metros, planes: They make announcements in English. Maybe that's the self centered American in me but it's nice. France seems a friendlier and easier place for tourists overall.

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Paris doesn't smell like a sewer. That's all I'll say about that.

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November 01, 2022 at 11:27PM

Smoking in the boys room in Paris

We are staying in a "boutique hotel" in Paris . Here is the definition of a boutique hotel:  

  a small stylish hotel, typically one situated in a fashionable location

This hotel has 142 rooms and I guess that is small by hotel standards. Is it stylish? Ok, it's stylish. Is it in a fashionable district? I wouldn't call it fashionable. It has lots of restaurants with a few sex shops thrown in. You and your friend Pierre can be eating a burger and fries at a table outside and across the street people are doing who knows what in "luxeux salons " at the L'ODYSSEX.  Kinda bizarre, but I'm just a naive little old lady from the midwest.(!) I guess that's just how they do things in this den of debauchery they call Paris. Har. 

So the hotel itself has a theme: art. There were 3 artists chosen to design 3 floors each. The floor we are on has a bit of  a dark theme. The halls are black with ghost looking animal figures in white. Our room has the same theme. It sounds more bizarre than it is. It's really kind of cool. The lobby has interesting artwork. They have art classes, cooking classes and different things here. 

The room itself is designed different than a gal from Minneee-soda is used to. First of all, the bathroom is a six by six coffin like box with a door (appropriate since we are close to the Paris catacombs). It is separate from the rest of the bathroom around the corner. The shower is in a corner and there is a short hallway in front of it. In the very short hall there is a sink. There is no door on this part of the bathroom. Very little privacy.  Weird design.

By the way, last night some naughty hotel guest either above or below us were smoking in there coffin like bathroom and we smelled it in ours, if you're wondering about the smoking in the boys room reference.

One interesting thing here, the people at the desk emphasized that there is not only a bar, but a speakeasy too. This place is just too damn hip.

I'm making this hotel and neighborhood sound weird, but it isn't at all. It's all kind of fun and different. That's what life's all about.

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October 31, 2022 at 06:06PM

Never tie your shoes in Paris

Oh what an interesting city Paris has been on the first day.

So even though we're tired this morning we decided to go see NUMER UNO, THE BIG ENCHILADA, THE STAR OF  THE SHOW !!!- Ladies and gentlemen - you seen it in pictures, on TV- THE EIFFEL TOWER!!!! (applause

So it's a two mile walk- a mere pittance in our long list of walks we have taken over the months. On the way, I stop at a small bakery for another French institution SI VOUS VOULEZ!  - the Parisian CROISSANT!!  Yes people, I got a croissant and a cappuccino and it only cost 3.50 euros!

I have found the Mecca and it's a bakery  on a non-descript corner a few blocks from the hotel. This place had all kinds of eye catching delights that could put back the weight I've lost on this trip in a couple days. The cappuccino and croissant were of course perfect. 

Getting back to the EIFFEL TOWER..we start on our journey. go about a block, turn and there it is in the distance- THE EFFEL TOWER!! Have to admit, all kidding aside, it's an impressive sight. It's almost like it's not real. That's not really the THE EIFFEL TOWER, but it is....and we really are in Paris.

So off we go, finally arriving and it is of course, teeming with people. So we join in the crowd, moving down the street and immediately are met by blanket after blanket of GITTERING miniature EIFFEL TOWERs for sale. Oh they have smaller, non-glittering ones for sale too, for those who are more boring and cheap. For the cheapest tourist, every blanket has a small corner of EIFFEL TOWER keychains, 5 for one euro. 

BTW, who is selling all of these EIFFEL TOWER trinkets? It's the same group as Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia - Africans. 

As you move along, the blankets start selling berets, some vinyl hat wit a chain in front, PARIS ball caps, PARIS shirts, totes, backpacks, umbrellas. EVERYTHING PARIS for todays modern tourist. 

We cross the street to the bridge over the Seine and on the bridge are purveyors of that ancient hustle - the shell game. Fascinating to watch. This was not for a dollar or five dollars, this was for 50 or a hundred dollars. 

It was obvious that the few people around the guy were part of the hustle. They won some but lost once in a while to make it look realistic. The thing is most of the time the ball was never under any of the cups but in the guys hand. I wonder how much money they make in a day?

Moving on, you could take your picture with a with a bouquet of red balloon hearts for a price of course. Meanwhile people were out in the middle of the street between lanes of traffic taking pictures of  with the EIFFEL TOWER in the background for instagram.

So here's the thing- I bought a beret (and PARIS ball cap for tomorrow), PARIS tote bag and backpack, PARIS umbrella, PARIS t shirt. I attached the glittering EIFFEL TOWER to the top of the beret (not an easy feat) and had my picture taken in the middle of the street with the bouquet of red heart balloons with the EIFFEL TOWER in the background. That was after I dropped  $500 on a couple of shell games. 

That folks was my first day in Paree.

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October 30, 2022 at 06:35PM