Nous Arrivons

9 April 2007

Well, we're in Paris again. We've been here three years in a row and although the city becomes more and more familiar it remains wonderfully exciting.

Just a quick throwback to London, can anybody enlighten us regarding the aversion to having bicycles leaning agaist one's railings. Virginia remembers this was a problem in her youth and now (a few years later) it continues. Everywhere in Bayswater there are signs warning bicycle parkers off - but strangely the same problem does not seem to exist in Oxford.

Another, and probably more serious problem in London, is garbage removal. The Bayswater mansions which once housed one family may now house up to a dozen in small flats and bed-sits. A once-a-week garbage collection is totally inadequate. Not a problem here in Montmartre where, in the block of flats where we are staying there is a garbage collection room with half a doze or so wheelie bins and these are emptied every day - and we mean every day!

By the way you might be interested to hear that in Brussels they have just started a new system of garbage collection. Each householder's wheelie bin has a microchip embedded in it. When the garbage van picks the bin up it is automatically weighed both when full and when empty and the householder is charged per kilo for the garbage removed. Recycling is in full flower in Belgium these days to minimize the weight of one's garbage removed. Incidentally there seems to be little or no recycling in England but it is pretty good here in France.

A final not on England. When we were at Waterloo at 8.30am, we sat in a cafe having breakfast next to a table of six to eight kids who could not have been more than 14 years old. Some may even have been younger. To put it bluntly they were well on the way to being drunk, were smoking and foul-mouthed. They had with them a slab of Fosters and two slabs of Stella Artois from which they drank constantly in the hour we sat there. What was even more interesting was the number of police, security officials and community service officers who walked past at five minute intervals and totally ignored the whole scene.

After an uneventful trip via the Eurostar we arrived at Gare du Nord. I say "uneventful", but travelling at more than 300km an hour is hardly uneventful. The train is incredibly smooth, quiet and clean. Compared to flying, it is a delight. It takes only a matter of minutes to check in at Waterloo station and when you arrive in France you simply walk out having taken care of all the French formalities while still in England. The reverse is also true.

We arrived at the flat at 2 Rue Cyrano de Bergerac with a bit of trepidation. Last year we described it as "bohemian" which was a euphemism for ultra-shabby. This year it has had at least a lick and a promise and we are much happier. After unpacking we went to Monoprix which is the equivalent of Woolies or Coles and did our basic shopping.

The restaurant "Chez Yang" is still in business just across the street from us and we will tell you more about that later in the week. As for tonight, we will probably go to Bruxelles, a cafe nearby, for Moules Frites!