there is so much to write about!
first, my lodgings. i live in what's called a "chambre de bonne" or a "chambre de service" - essentially, a nineteenth-century maid's room updated with some modern conveniences. it's in a normal apartment building, way up top on the sixth floor above the real apartments. and there's no elevator for us!
trop des escaliers!
there are seven or eight other chambres, all relatively small and intended for one person. one could compare them to college dorms - mostly inhabited by students, they are far cheaper than other parisian living options.
the chambre comes furnished, with a bed, linen, a mini-fridge, dishes, hot plate, sink, and a shower. (the water closet (ie the potty) is in the hallway; to be honest it's sort of disgusting as it's shared between everyone living on this floor.) i lucked out and got a "big" room! i also have a wonderful view of the quartier - i can see saint sulpice, le tour de montparnasse, and of course the beautiful haussman buildings that compose this city.
the tower in the back is one of the turrets of saint sulpice (currently under construction)...
looking down on rue du four!
the nearby rue de rennes. the skyscraper in the back is the tour de montparnasse; after it was built the city passed a law banning new buildings over six stories. paris is not, and should not be, manhattan.
as for the quartier itself, i truly feel i'm in the best part of paris. st germain has a long history as one of the city's intellectual centers. i live steps from some of the famous (now touristy) cafés where sartre wrote being and nothingness and where hemingway spent hours over coffee and cigarettes. these restaurants still have a philosophical air, but have sort of devolved into tourist traps. still, i love being so close to some of the places that have inspired change and shaped history! i'll write more on my neighborhood as i continue to discover its charms and its history.
some other random things about french life: boulangeries (bakeries) are everywhere and they are all amazing...
french drivers are insane. they speed up to fifty miles an hour on these tiny four hundred year old streets, and somehow manage to slow down enough to avoid hitting pedestrians.
many people ride vespas or motorcyles, which are driven with equal abandon. i do wonder why the moped hasn't become popular in american cities; it's so efficient and SO COOL. of course, new york can't even handle bicyclists, so one can hardly expect vespas to be the next trend. one day america WILL have reliable public transit!
la station de métro st-germain. ahh yes, the métro system - perhaps the best in the world. i hate to say it, but paris may have new york beat on this one (with a few decidedly french exceptions). there are stations everywhere, the maps are clear and easy to use even for tourists, trains come on average every two minutes (and many stations have monitors that tell you when the next train will arrive), and most incredibly, it's CLEAN!!! aboveground, there may be merde covering the sidewalks, but you will never see litter in a parisian subway car.
some of you may know of my enthusiasm for urban wildlife. as it's been cold outside lately, i haven't spent much time getting to know the animal inhabitants of paris, but i can say a couple things about pigeons. 1) they are FAT. whether it's due to the enormous amount of bread consumed in this country or the small area paris covers, these birds are enormous. 2) they are not as friendly as new york pigeons. they don't coo outside my window in the morning, and they're too shy to follow me around to ask for crumbs.
i haven't taken very many good pictures yet, and paris is dreary, so i will write a more interesting post soon. this weekend i'm going to normandie with my family, and next week i'm going to besançon and switzerland. so there's more to come!
