Pit Stop at St. Michel
by TravelChick67
The famous St. Michel fountain is a great place to take a pitstop and enjoy a little people-watching.
We grabbed a crepe and some bottled water and sat next to the fountain for about 20 mintues watching the Paris world go by.
The St. Michel metro stop is right there so it's easy to find or just about anyone can direct you. The fountain is at the tip of a pointed "corner" and faces out towards the Seine.
Give me liberté, or give me potatoes!
by Confucius
The French don't call them "French Fries", and the deli near Notre Dame where I bought these called them "patatoes" first before correcting it to "potatoes". That's funny, because in high school I learned the French word for potato which is "pomme de terre" and translates literally as "earth apples"
At a bus stop restaurant by Calais I saw french fries referred to as "frites" and they were closer to England's version, which the British call "chips"
As for the taste, I thought they were "tres bien" at both Paris and Calais and were almost better than the "potato wedges" I sometimes succumb to at the American "Food Lion" supermarket deli. I didn't have the audacity to ask for "frites de liberté", the new American word for fries that substitutes "freedom" for "French", but I still like to say "Ou est Notre Dame" pronouncing the cathedral's name exactly like the university in Indiana which is famous for college football. Next time I will definitely wear a "Fighting Irish" T-shirt to Paris and roam around the Ile de France asking French folks "Ou est Noter Dayme?"
Paris Tip
by espadana
Walking around...
Take some time to just walk around Paris. The atmosphere of the city itself is amazing - cafés, little colorful shops, people on bicycles... Oh, and don't forget your camera!
Fatale: How French Women Do It
by Geisha_Girl
Edith Kunz, the author of the recently published "Fatale: How French Women Do It," went on a quest to find the answer to a most crucial question: What is the secret behind the power of seduction of French women.
Ms Kunz plunges into French history to find the key to this powerful and yet mysterious power.
She revisits troubadours who were the first to codify the rules of courtship, to introduce a ritual into the relationship between men and women, in the Middle Ages. She ends with the modern era, the era of Catherine Deneuve.
The historian of seduction examines every aspect of the French woman's charm: her diet, the culture she is raised in, the ideology that shapes her, the decor of her bedroom, her role as wife and mistress, the issue of age and what she calls "the art of brilliance" which Frenchwomen use to dazzle French men.
What's the secret of French women?
One word: confidence. They are confident in themselves, confident with their age, their body, with their power.
They are sensuous even at work. They charmed men to death, and it is fun for both. It looks like a lot of sensuousness.
Hmmmm.......I suppose a "Geisha" can learn a lot from that (or vice versa perhaps?) ;-))
The Umbrella: Your Friend in Paris
by CALSF
Alot of people want to know what is Parisian weather like during different parts of the year. Of course, the weather can be generalized for a specific season. However, Parisian weather is highly changeable. This means that one can visit in October and arrive in Paris to full sun and balmy temperatures. But the following day may do a 360 degree change and turn out to be cold and drizzly. It happens and it's unpredictible. One piece of advice is to pack a small, folding umbrella. This way you are prepared and you don't have to go to spend extra euro for an umbrella.