Euro Grik is Back

I arrived two weeks ago and have gradually been settling into the pace of life. Certainly Paris is as big and bustling and stressful as any other big city anywhere, no question about that. It's a madhouse in the car, and, although I have avoided rush hours in general, I can imagine it's a nuthouse in the subway too. Even on the weekend it looked pretty darned busy.

A lot of things haven't changed too much in the last 16 years since I spent any serious time here, but I did spend a month or so about 10 years ago. Since then they cashed in their French Francs for Euros so that is still a bit weird. There are a lot of Russians here. Since they discovered money a few years ago, they have moved west in droves I guess. Other than that and the internet and those funny little cars, the French cling to their traditions.

Thanks to Bush, a Big Mac is $9.60. With the death of the dollar, the prices certainly are one thing that have changed. It costs about $1.60 for one Euro, which was designed to be about the same as the dollar. So where have the 60 cents gone? Iraq, the housing crisis, the 10k per head average credit card debt, and various other get-rich-quick schemes that deflate the real value of our money.

Speaking of dimwit Bush, he was here a few days ago. I can't believe his trip clashed with mine. Haha. Here's a funny article talking about his very first trip to Europe (can you believe that?) in 2001: http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/06/12/itinerary/index.html

Anyway, I'm pretty well back now, meaning I have fallen into Euro habits and French just slips off my tongue for the most part. Good, that is what I was wondering about. I have definitely forgot some vocabulary, but it will resurface with time.

I just came back from lunch. I can't believe it. I ate a tartare of beef and veal, slightly cooked (usually it is raw), with some foie gras embedded in it in bite-sized pieces, and some capers, garnished with a salad au vinaigrette and some potatoes that tasted like your mom made them. Yikes, WHAT A FEAST!! These people do not fool around with food. The prices are not cheap either, but there is a restaurant on every corner and they are all busy - tells you about the values here. I don't know where we got the habit of cooking everything to death in recent years. Must be the lawyers who did it aided and abetted by the press of course. Some kid in Cleveland gets trichinosis and the whole country knows about it. If you buy meat in the grocery store these days at home it says COOK ALL MEATS THOROUGHLY on the label. Why? We never used to, now you can't even ask for a hamburger medium. Same deal in a restaurant - I guess they think they could be blamed if you caught something. Anyway, around here they are eating everything half raw.

The sites in Paris are endless, so endless in fact that I advise you to bring your video camera, then buy a big rolling suitcase and fill it with batteries, and just let her rip during your entire trip, 7 x 24. You can edit out the stuff you don't like when you get home, there won't be much. Every building has a certain age and charm about it, every park it's cute little benches and fountains, every street has something unique. And that's just the NORMAL stuff, I'm not talking about tourist sites.

Now about the women. I know you've had your radar up about this topic Sara, and I admit I have been hiding from it, but enough is enough. First thing I noticed is how natural they are, very little make-up, not overly dressed, all their body parts appear natural and without enhancement as far as I can tell. The other thing I noticed is they look you right in the eye WHAM, no fooling around. All in all, they are very delicious, very feminine, confident without any haughtiness. The proof is in the lack of beauty parlors and ads for boob jobs and lypo and stuff that we are bombarded with.

This week has been a joy so far, until my boss drops a last minute bomb on Friday afternoon that will keep me busy this weekend. Grrr. I am working in my little studio, all I need is the internet and I'm in business. I am translating a bunch of stuff and doing some planning. I just bought my train ticket for Bordeaux, I leave Monday lunchtime, unless something changes.

Finally, I have been in contact with my old DEC Mafia buddies having tracked down 3 of them in Geneva. My closest travel partner Pierre still owns a hotel outside of Geneva and the rest of us have already agreed in principle to a fall surprise reunion.