Paris

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Day one: July 4th Paris

After an 8 hour flight we arrived in Paris. We landed at 8:20am.
I’m French by nationality, live in a French overseas territory but I’d never been to continental France until now. I just never felt the need or drove to go. I figured two things: 1- St Martin and St Barths have so much French influence, I’ve done the side walk café, the French pastries and the second hand smoke. And 2- My expectations were pretty low as the French I’ve met locally are not the nicest.

The people are a lot friendlier than I anticipated. We got to the airport at 10am but could not check in to the hotel until noon, so a group (6) of us decided to head into Paris for a bit of sightseeing. We took the Metro like true locals.

I must admit I fell in love with Paris the minute I stepped out of the metro, the architecture is just stunning, the city has this old world artsy feel about it. People were friendly and helpful and there were tourist literally everywhere. I heard more English than French. There’s a huge immigrant community and you can’t help but soak up culture just by being there.

Here I need to stop and mention that my 83 year old cousin was with us and kept pace all day, I must say I can only hope to have half the energy she has at her age. This trip to Africa had special meaning to her as she’d promised her great-great grandfather (my great-great-great grandfather) the last known slave in our family that she would visit the land of his ancestry.


The trip itself held great significance for the group as it was organized in commemoration of the 160 anniversary emancipation of slavery on our island. It also coincided with Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration.

So the 6 of us headed down to the Champs Elizees for lunch, ate, purchased some souvenirs then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Our group was 53 persons strong, we arrived by two separate flights (Corsair on the 3rd - Air France on the 4th) and also left for South Africa by two flights (Air France at 10am on the 5th - British Airways at 2pm).

I traveled on Corsair, Air France and BA (inland African flight) and I must say I enjoyed those flights, When US carriers are cutting back to the maximum, European airlines (KLM as well) are still offering full meals (3 courses) and refreshment services, pillows, blankets, headphones etc… These airlines are just as much affected by rising fuel costs but are maintaining customer services that have been long gone in the west.

We had a pretty cohesive group although the ages varied from teens to 83.

We were all pretty exited as well as tired, but couldn’t wait until the 5th when we all head out for Africa.

Random thoughts about Paris:
Through the glitz and glitter of the champs elizee there is also poverty, from gypsies begging on the Metro to people on the side walks. Kids are used to garner more sympathy.
Navigating the Metro system is pretty simple even if you don’t speak the language, no need for taxis if you’re an adventurous tourist and not afraid of getting on the wrong train, or one headed in the wrong direction.
Side walk restaurants and cafes all over even burger joints had tables outside.
While navigating our way through the metro system we rand across a band accordion, cello and all playing ‘Ava Nagila’ (sp?) of all things, I just found that to be delightful.
The small glimpse I had on Paris was a wonderful mix of cultures and culture.

No time for the Eiffel tower, but we do have another free day in Paris on the way back.

Charles De Gaulle Statue


Cousin Flo and I in Paris

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Comments

[Sarah]

Yay
Glad you loved Paris as much I did!!!