Saturday, September 27, 2008

Oh To Be In Paris (Part V)

So much has happened in this last month that I wanted to report. I penned many entries in my head but then when I had to sit and type them out I just couldn't find the time to sit and do it. Anyways, instead of updates first, I decided to give you all what I promised. One more installment of this Oh To be In Paris series. This will likely be the last in the series....this year.

Ok, here goes and if I forget and remember more later, I will just add to this list instead of creating another one.

1) Cheese - I think I mentioned this already but I will again. Up until last week, I had no less than 4 different types of cheese in my fridge. Even this week, my last full week, I have two different kinds: goat cheese and parmesan. French supermarkets beat N. American ones flat out in this regard. When I go to the supermarket here, there are SO many types of cheese and I love cheese so that it great. Plus nice cheese too that would cost loads in N. America. Apparently, Napoleon at one point lamented ''How can one rule a country with 300 different types of cheese'' or something to that effect. There are even more types now since the days of Napoleon. Me likey.

2) Condoms at subway stations. Yes, at my current subway station, there is, no lie, a condom dispenser machine at the exit. Forget all the other emergencies one could have. Apparently, needing a condom is at the top of the emergency list in my area. And it isn't even like I live in a club area or anything.

3) In a similar vein, Paris is the only city where I've been to a club that has a breathalyzer machine at the club. I thought that was ingenious. Pay 1Euro, blow into it and see your blood alcohol level. Many clubs all over the world could do well to install some of those. That may help convince some people who think they are not too drunk to not drive. Every little counts in the fight against drunk driving.

4) In France, there are hardly any commercials during tv shows. Often, there are none. My roommate was telling me that the French president also recently said he will be making there be no commercials on public TV. Unlike in North America where the public channels have the most commercials, in France they are like cable channels in terms of the commercial breaks that they have. Love it.

5) I have mentioned the kissing couples on the Paris metro. What I didn't mention was that Paris is also the city where I have seen the most couples on the metro with one half of the couple, usually the woman, crying...like the man did something wrong. The man is usually all apologetic but no matter what he says or tries to do is not able to stop the tears flowing down the woman's face. I can tell the man did something wrong because as he tries to wipe the woman's face she usually pushes his hand away. I guess one of the cities of love is also a city of heartbreak.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should definitely bring some cheese back. I bought some smoked cheese in Amsterdam, omg it was so good. Now I've been trying to find it online so I can get some more.

Anonymous said...

You should definitely bring some cheese back. I bought some smoked cheese in Amsterdam, omg it was so good. Now I've been trying to find it online so I can get some more.