Friday, January 8, 2010

Man of the Metro

Since my last post, I have learned that there is free wireless internet here at the Peace Love. My message was so brief yesterday because I paid a euro for fifteen minutes of internet on this very odd computer attached to a wall; the keyboard was all metal and the buttons were spread apart, so that short post was about all I had time to write.

Well, I've been spending my time in Paris on the go. I've spent some time at the Peace and Love -- primarily to recooperate between outings -- but for the most part I've been exploring on foot and on the metro (an extensive subway system, for those who don't know). The metro is incredible. You really can use it to get just about anywhere in Paris. I think I've bought five tickets the past two days (for a total cost of 8 euros), and with that I've seen all sorts of different Parisian neighborhoods. A few highlights: Pere Lachaise (a huge cemetery), Pont Neuf (famous bridge), Notre Dame (very cool and less crowded at night), Eifel Tower (pretty cool but very crowded during the day), and le Cite d'Architecte (or something like that; it's an architecture museum that happens to grant free entry right now).

While those places are highlights, my absolute favorite thing to do in Paris has been traveling, eating, and living among actual, normal French people. Because people don't really talk to anyone else on the streets, I haven't spoken all that much French yet. Despite the slight disappointment at not being able to test my language capabilities, one advantage of people not talking to each other is that no one really knows if I'm American or Canadian or Russian or what. As far as anyone can tell, I'm as French as the next guy on the metro. (Of course, they might have some idea I'm not from around here; I've counted literally only four other people wearing a white jacket. Apparently the other 11, 999, 995 have black ones.) Filing in among the city's anonymous, I have felt rather at home -- as at home as a wanderer can feel, that is. If any of you end up in Paris, I'd encourage you to hop on the metro without a particular destination in mind and just ride. It has to be one of the most real cross-slices of Parisian life. Men in suits on their way to work, chatty women just done with shopping, high schoolers going to school, weird guys who seem to be thinking of stabbing someone, men with guitars or violins expecting spare change for their unsolicited musical performances, pretty young women by themselves who will never, ever look at you, people on their cell phones, people absorbed in their mp3's, people who stare at nothing, people who bustle, people who apparently can't wait to get off the metro, who stand at the door with their hand on the latch well before the train stops, who get off as if they're characters in an action movie, people who make you wonder (always without answer) what they're moving to or running from, why they move with such purpose.

So, just in two days I've grown accustomed to walking fast wherever I go, even when I don't know where I'm going. I walk fast off the metro, I walk fast onto the sidewalks (usually choosing a direction at random), I walk fast past a street that looks interesting, so then I walk fast to the next cross-walk, cross the street fast, and walk fast back to the place of interest. Maybe everyone thinks I am just another Parisian fast on his way to some engagement of utmost importance. Or maybe they see an American tourist who simply walks unusually fast. Either way, like most in this city, I'm now a man on the move.

Next stop: Montpellier. I leave tomorrow by train. It's been a good visit in Paris, but I'm ready to get somewhere where I can stay still for a while.

1 comment:

  1. Fast, eh? I thought Europeans were supposed to be more relaxed. Interesting. I guess Paris is not the same as other areas in France though. That's cool though.

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