Stroll around Paris whistling...
by btex
Stroll around Paris whistling La Marseillaise. I could go to Paris without wanting to enter a building. Tree-lined streets, great architecture, outdoor markets and vendors, parks, and crowded cafes make Paris a great place to walk and see the sights. So put on your walkin' shoes...
Huge supermarkets, big fruits, onions, fat chicken
by Norali
Oooh! I could never imagine that supermarkets could be that big. I think we went to Carrefour supermarkets. Bought stuffs.
Many stuffs I was not used to: milk powder (used to drink fresh milk), big onions, big fruits, big vegetables, big and fat chicken. Yes, those, at least, were the biggest onions I've ever seen in my life thus far...
Also, I was impressed by the wide range of items cc stationery. I was a schoolkid. I wanted the perfect paper to write on.. les cahiers (notebooks), apple-fragrant Papermate pens. I knew from TV commercials that I'd better buy Clairefontaine (haha.. who wouldn't have wanted to buy it?). My Mum stood firm.. no stationery bought... Indeed, what would be the benefit of buying a cahier "from Paris" if you are going to use a dozen during the school year... Better use the local production for everything (bad quality paper). So went money to something else: visits of Chartres, Versailles and some of the monuments & museums of Paris. That was the first time I saw people reading magazines, comic strips in the shops... Not necessarily Carrefour but also in FNAC...
Yes, just pick what you want to read and you may sit in FNAC shelvings reading it without being warned... Still did that sometimes, in Brussels' GB-Carrefour and Brussels FNAC. That was compared to our supermarkets in Tana where we had employees all over the shops... looking at what you do, preventing you from reading your favourite magazine... And yes, FNAC impressed me for many reasons. It's still one of my fave amongst the many department stores... always things to discover there...
Also, a supermarket I really liked to go to: Monoprix.. I don't know why... maybe because it was smaller? The one I was used to is still on Rue Alésia (14ème).
Cycling at night
by Nemorino
One of the things I really love is cycling home at night after the opera.
This is even more magical in Paris because you not only have the opera going through your head, you also have, well, Paris all around you.
You do have to look out for the taxis, though, because they come out at night like moths. And they are allowed to use the bus lanes just as we are.
Second and third photos: More people cycling at night on Boulevard Sebastopol.
Fourth photo: You have to have front and rear lights on your bike, that's important. By the way, the lights they provided at the rental place are battery operated, which would be illegal in Germany (they insist on a dynamo) but seems to be acceptable in France.
The sights, the sounds…
by tiabunna
Although the museums are much of the attraction for tourists, Paris itself is no museum. It’s essential to remember that Paris is very much a living breathing and working city, with over 2 million in the central city and an estimated 10 million in the urban area: more if you count the surrounding districts. It is a tremendously cosmopolitan mix of different ethnic groups, religions, and social categories, all constantly interacting. With all those people and activity, sometimes Paris is untidy, sometimes it is grubby: as a visitor, just accept that’s how it is.
Not surprisingly in the current world, there is a substantial security presence - and I'd have to say that it was generally reassuring rather than intimidating. Near the Louvre and Tuileries Gardens, I saw police on horses and even on rollerskates (photos 1 and 2). Occasionally I saw convoys of police vehicles (photo 3) bound on missions unknown. Nearly always the sirens for police, ambulance or other emergency service vehicles echoed through the streets.
Musée des Automates
by christine.j
I had read a very short reference to the Musée de la Magie and decided to go there.When I was walking down the street I almost missed the entrance, as there are no big signs pointing to it. The door was open and a very steep staircase led down. Even though I was there only a few minutes after opening time, quite a few people were waiting already, mostly children.
The ticket was 9 Euro, but for 3 Euro more you could get a combi tickt, for the Musée des Automates as well. I chose the combi ticket and wanted to go right into the Museum of Magic.
But I was stopped and told it wasn't open yet. By this time the small entrance hall was getting more and more crowded by waiting children. I was surprised why they couldn't go to the Museum of Magic, but - like the good tourist that I am - turned left into the Musée of Automates.
This museum consists of three narrow rooms, full of glass cases with automatic toys, from tiny to really large. For each toy there is a button which you can press to get the toy moving.Again, the rooms were getting very crowded, everybody was pushing buttons and having fun.
There was a big wooden chest, containing the head of a chimpanzee.When pressing the button, he would look out of his chest ,uttering a chimpanzee's cries. Guess what? With all the children in the museum the poor chimp was crying all the time and the museum sonded like a jungle.
Even though it was very crowded, this museum is fun and in mind absolutely worth the three Euro entrance fee for a combi ticket. If you just want to go there, entrance would be six Euro.
The address is rue St Paul, 11.