Impressions of Paris

October 30: My first glimpse of Paris happened a few days ago when we just arrived from London on Eurostar at Gare du Nord and took the Metro to Gare San Lazare for the train to Bayeux. ("Gare" means train station.) It was like wandering into a film noir set -- everything was dark, dingy and theatrical. London seemed worn but bright and lively. However, the French fetish for saving energy kept many of the station lights turned off, so the 18th-century European architecture and 60s modern details merged into the darkness.

And when we wandered into the cool, cloudy outside, the smell of cigarette smoke assaulted our noses. (France as well as England no longer allows smoking in many buildings.) Many of the smokers seemed barely old enough to have pubic hair but maybe they look so young because I'm so old.

Since this is the first time I'm getting regular Internet access, the entries may seem to come from different dates at first, since I'm trying to catch up on my blog entries.