FROM PARIS, FRANCE

(click on images to enlarge)

Paris, La Defense

PARIS, July 10, 2007 - I got about four hours of sleep between New York and Paris.  Which is not bad, considering...

The weather is cold here - only 55F (13C) - and rainy.  "We're having a winter here," a despondent-looking French airline attendant said who greeted us at the Charles de Gaulle airport.  "That's the way it's been for about a month now," he added.

After checking into my hotel in the La Defense area, I went out for a walk despite the rain.  I felt needed to stretch my legs.  The scenes of Paris you are about to see are not exactly the kind that you usually see in travel brochures.  Have you ever seen skyscrapers in the French capital?  If not, check them out...

La Defense area was developed in the late 1970s, early 1980s, as a futuristic vision of "modern" Paris.  Personally, I prefer the old Paris.  This modern stuff seems soulless and leaves me cold.  But each to his own.  There are people who like modern architecture and designs.

The two leftmost photos were taken from the same spot, each looking in the opposite direction.  The leftmost one shows the Arc de Triomphe in the distance, the center of the "old Paris."  The second shot from the left is of the new Grand Arch, build in the early 1980s that is perfectly aligned with the old Arc and the obelisk that marks Place de la Concorde farther yet, in front of the Louvre and the Elysee Palace.

If you look carefully, however, you will notice a little cat amid all this glass and concrete.  She did not like having her picture taken, so she ran past me into the bushes.  :-)

The La Defense area abounds with modern art scultures, too...

... some of pretty enormous sizes.

But I prefer the classical kind, like the above, even if they stand out like a sore thumb amid all the modernity.

I remember how Parisians were up in arms over the invasion of the "vulgar" American culture in the 1970s when the first McDonald's arrived in the French capital.  Three decades later, McDonald's are still there, and thriving, judging by the crowds that frequent them.  But now Paris is also  being invaded by Starbucks.  The left shot above is of a classical Paris bistro.  Right next to it is a new Starbucks, one of several in the La Defense area.

When the rain started coming down hard, I sought shelter under this cute carousel in the middle of all the glass and concrete structures.  I had to provide my own music, though.  And sadly, there were no kids in sight, either.  Right next door, in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel (formerly a Sofitel, rightmost photo), there was this miniature Statue of Liberty, which France gave the U.S. when America was still a fledgling Republic.

The above shots were all taken from in and around the Grand Arch.  The rightmost picture shows the barely visible Arc de Triomphe in the distance.

A Glimpse of "Old Paris"

This evening, I had a chance to drive my taxi through the "Old Paris," enroute to a dinner with a couple of old friend on the Left Bank.  So here's a glimpse of some of the traditional Paris scenes...

...starting with Arc de Triomphe (left two photos), a view down Champs Elysee (middle right) and an ornate building on Paris main avenue.  Even the rain had stopped and the sun was shining this evening, as you can see.

The first three above pictures probably don't need much explanation (the Eiffel Tower and the Elysee Palace, the French Parliament).  The last one on the right is of rue de Bourgogne, one of many lovely narrow streets on the Left Bank where the restaurant was located in which we had dinner.  Its name is "Auguste."  Excellent!  Highly recommend it, especially to connoisseurs of French cuisine.

And that's all she wrote from Paris.

TO BE CONTINUED, hopefully in Madrid...

For a 2005 travelogue from the "old Paris," CLICK HERE and HERE...

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