I had a job inteview at 9:30 this morning and it was a no go I think. The lady basically told me that since I don't have a tefel (or however you spell that) qualification, they'd hire me becuase they're desperate but I'd basically get the hours that they can't give to anyone else. Yeah, that sounds like a real winner.
I had lunch at L'As du Felafel which is supposed to do the best felafel yiros in Paris. It was quite theatrical becuase I knew the place when I got there becuase it was the one with a line halfway up the street. And it's obviously always that busy becuase those guys were making yiros' FAST. The felafel itself was very fresh which made it good, and they used coleslawey stuff which was an improvement on iceburg lettuce, but I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I think France really needs to get with the program and discover GARLIC.The felafel place was in a neighbourhood called the Marais, which is traditionally the Jewish area, and is now also the gay area. It also seems to me like it might be quite trendy (it is close to the centre) and there were lots of pretty shops. It also felt a little more village like than big huge city. I think I will have to spend a bit more time exploring becuase I really didn't have time.
I met a friend of a friend for coffee which was really nice and she took me to a little place called Mamie Gateaux in the 6th (which is also where the St Germain area is) and I had a honey and lemon drink and a lovely slice of cake, which tasted a bit like a baked lemon cheesecake studded with apricots. We went for a wander around afterwards, near the Odeon theatre (which we didn't actually find...The Marriage of Figaro premiered there!) and I think that is going to be another area to explore a little more. It was also nice to meet someone new and have a bit of a chat with someone. I am a bit lonely here...
After that I explored a little more myself, bought a flocked notebook and I don't know whether I'm more excited that it's just beautiful or that it's LINED. Have I mentioned that all French notebooks are graph paper? It's so, SO annoying.The last item of the day was to try to by the yearly Louvre pass that mum found out you can get for 7 coffees IF you're under 26. (They actually exist for most of the big galleries/museums here so I'll be doing a lot of museum information desk visits before Sunday). Unfortunately, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, and I had another experience of a French person who SHOULD know what he's talking about (ie. the information guy) giving me COMPLETELY wrong directions. So, I didn't end up getting it. Tomorrow it will have to be.
General observations on Paris are limited so far, becuase I've been preoccupied with job/apartment hunting and also tired as anything. However, Parisian women do not dress as well as I was expecting. In fact I'd go so far as to say that the women of Bordeaux are way out in front. The average level is still better than Australia, but I think if you walked around in Melbourne for a day you'd see more beautifully dressed women than I have here so far. And even the ones that are dressed well, are dressed boringly. Very conservative, plain, and elegant, but black black black black grey black black black good haircut black black black. It's really a bit disappointing, although at least I won't have to try so hard to keep up.
On the upside, Parisians don't seem to be as rude as I was expecting. I don't feel like I'm getting treated poorly when it's obvious that I'm not French, and everybody that I've asked for directions has been extremely helpful. That being said, I've seen a lot of incredibly rude Americans (while I was talking to him, one woman marched up to the Louvre guy who was giving me directions and interrupted [in English] with 'we need the Metro'). So maybe the Parisian reputation for rudeness is actually based on their reactions to impolite tourists, not just tourists in general.
I am very over the metro already. There actually are accordian buskers on them (and they're usually quite good) which is definitely awesome, and yes yes it's very comprehensive and easy. However, I just cannot handle the smell. Ok, I know I said I was going to stop talking about dog poo, and God knows I'd like to, but the good news is there's a lot less of it in Paris than there was in Bordeaux. The bad news is that the French laissez-faire attitude to their own bodily functions seems to express itself most obviously in the Paris Metro. I may well be an uptight Anglo, but that, my possums, is indubitably, extraordinarily ick.
1 comment:
Maybe they don't eat garlic so it's nicer to do all that smooching under the eiffel tower and so on?
In any case, no garlic = lame! Check this out: 44-clove roasted garlic soup!
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