Paris - the elegant, the sad and the magnificent

Our time in Paris has been an amazing adventure and great education.  

We visited the Notre Dame de Paris, Eiffel tower, Galeries Lafayette, walked the Champs-elysees, climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, visited the Musee d'Orsay and Andrew and I went to see Moulin Rouge one night, which was a fantastic show. We walked to the river and crossed Ponte Alexandre III, the famous bridge, and have seen the Grande and Petit Palais. We walked to the Louvre and spent 3 hours on a tour, definitely not enough time to see it all. It's enormous and absolutely magnificent! We climbed to the first level of the Eiffel tower which was an amazing experience. On the first level, they have a cafe, and a "playground" with swings around tables where you can eat you ice cream. 

The sad thing is everywhere you go that is busy with tourists is also the perfect place for pickpockets. They are constantly harassing the tourists trying to distract them with cute little puppies, or trying to get the tourists to sign up to something or to sell them something while their friends pick pocket or smatch bags. 

When we went to visit the Notre Dame, there were several people either begging for money or selling bottled water for $1. One of them had an ear piece and was chattering into it. Minutes later we believe Andrew was targeted. We were waiting in line and as in slow motion, I saw an elderly man  casually walking directly toward Andrew as if to walk through the line. He did not look like the average Pasisian and not quite like the beggars as he was well dressed, but there was something not right about him. I held his eye contact until he walked on by. I told Andrew to immediately empty his pockets. Next we had a woman behind us appear from nowwhere, again dressed nicely, but something was just not right. She kept trying to get right behind Andrew and I kept positioning myself between them. Every time Andrew moved, she angled to get behind him. She kept at it until we entered the church, then just as we were to pay entry fee, she got on her phone and left. At the Eiffel Tower there were police and we could see them chasing the pickpockets away so gladly we had no further incidence. 

There is also a constant military presence on the streets of Paris which I found surprising as I wasn't prepared for this. Apparently there has been trouble in Paris recently and the whole city in on constant high alert. We even saw a riot squat of 6 trucks full of men holding machine guns escorted by the police on bikes  and in cars thought the streets one day. This gave me a real fright as I didn't know what was going on. 

Visiting the Sothys institute has been a long dream of mine and so on one afternoon Andrew and I were booked to enjoy relaxing treatments at the Sothys institute. The staff were very friendly and attentive and kindly gave us a tour of the Spa. There are 10 treatment rooms and one VIP treatment room. The spa was beautifully appointed in a modern, classic style. Every treatment room was ready and set up to welcome a guest, the candles were lit and each treatment bed had a beautiful display themed around the treatment the next guest would be enjoying. In every room there was a lovely product display, and I particularly liked the built in sound system with 5 chanels that a guest could select the music of their preference: jazz, classic, relaxing, etc. I also liked how they had the change area set up in each room, with a jewellery box for the guest, a small linen bag hanging on a coat hanger for the underwear, a deodorant spray to freshen up after a treatment and a hair brush. 

In the VIP room they also has a shower, hair drier, hair straightener, hair spray, and the Sothys ladies fragrance and homme fragrance. The staff showed us their dispensary and how they prepare the trays for each treatment. There was great attention to detail with an elegant touch to ensure complete comfort and sensorial experience for their guests. 

The treatments I enjoyed were the Hanakasumy body relaxing treatment and the new Hydra3 facial intensive treatment due to be released very soon. I felt like a goddess as I floated down the stairs after 3 hours of pampering. The skin on my body was polished, silky smooth and super soft. The skin on my face was radiant, refreshed and I particularly liked how plump my skin was, not a wrinkle in sight. 

We have been staying in the heart of Paris, only meters away from the Sothys institute, a block away from the presidential residence, about 10 minutes walk from the Ark De Triomphe and the famous bridge across the river, the Ponte Alexandre III. The Eiffel tower is about 1/2 hour walk so everything is very close. 

Traffic is not so bad in Paris, it's busy but flowing nicely. I think is has something to do with the fact that about a third or more of the people in Paris travel by bikes, motorbikes, and scooters, the rest walk or catch the bus. I have only seen small delivery trucks, semitrailers do not come into Paris, which also helps keep the traffic flowing nicely. There are parking facilities for bikes and motor bikes all over Paris, more so than for cars. There are bikes you can hire everywhere. For about 10 euros for the week, you can hire a bike for an hour a day. Pick it up at one place and drop it off at your destination. 

Paris is truly an amazing city and the people have been just wonderful. We loved the patisseries where we would buy coffee or a hot chocolate and pastries for breakfast to enjoy in the park near by. 

The people of Paris are very friendly, we are always greeted with a cheerful Bonjour everywhere. Most speak English so we have had not problem communicating. I was also amazed how my high school French has come back and every day I remembered more and more words. I think if I stayed here for a few months I'd be speaking French in not time. Andrew laughed how I was picking up the French accent already. 

Olivia commented how she has not seen ANY overweight people in Paris. It is true, they are all very slim, in Australia we might even refer to them as skinny. The people of Paris look very healthy, slim and relaxed. 

I have yet to find Mc Donald's (I have seen a couple small billboard advertising it, but have not seen one) there are no burger king, pizza hut, KFC anywhere in Paris that I have seen. I have seen one or two very small Subway shops. The people of Paris mostly eat at patisseries, cafes and restaurants and seek out places where fresh and local food is served. They are very much into eating fresh and fine foods. They prefer quality over quantity. Fine cheese, ham, eggs, fresh leafy greens served on a baguette (long crispy roll) would be the kind of take away foods you will find here. Most French people bring lunch to,work and have a substantial lunch of starters, main and desert as they do not eat dinner till about 9pm. 

Both men and women dress smart casual at all times. A kind of relaxed elegance. No joggers, track suits, revealing singlet tops, or very short skirts or shorts. The women wear mainly dresses, or skirt and tops. Nothing extravagant, but smart. You can spot a tourist immediately in white socks and sneakers, shoe string tops or singlet tops and shorts. 

What surprised me though is how little make up the women wear. They wear barely any make up. Perhaps a little tinted moisturizer, maybe mascara and that's it. It looks very natural by day. At night they may put on more foundation, a touch of bronzer and a touch of liner and mascara, the lips are natural and nude. Compared to the heavy vontoured 'Kim Kardasian' make up look that's so popular with young women in Australia right now, this is a striking and refreshing change. The brows are natural and soft, not the thick and sharp shaping that is so popular in Australia. You can spot a tourist woman instantly with the bright blush, thick foundation and powder, heavy contouring, coloured lips and strong eye brows. This has been an eye opener for me. 

The French do love their fragrance but keep it subtle. As I walked through crowds at the railway station I could pick up hints of fine French fragrances everywhere. It was not overpowering, but it was there. 

Visiting Galeries Lafayette, the famous department store here in Paris was amazing. The department store was 4 stories hight and was absolutely packed with tourists. Designer cosmetics, clothing and accessories of all famous brands you  can think of attracted huge crowds of people. The prices were surprisingly reasonable from our perspective. Designer jeans for under E100 . For foreigners the prices were reasonable, but as I later learned, for the French people it was a bit pricey.

I talked to one of the local ladies and she informed me that people in France earn on the average E1500 per month. The minimum wage is E1100 per moth . The beauty therapists earn between E1100 to E1200 per moth. The food and the clothing here is pretty much what we pay in Australia euro to dollar. For example, a sandwich was E6 we pay on average $6 for a sandwich. Main meals at a restaurant would be between E20-E30 which is comparable to what we pay. 1 little of milk is about E1, the pork and lamb are pretty much the same but beef sells for between E25-E30 per kilo. The French earn about 1/2 what the average Australian earns yet they pay about the same for clothing and food. Real estate is much lower that in Sydney. The lady we spoke to wanted to buy a 100 m2 house in Paris but found it unaffordable at just over E300,000. 

My impressions of Paris is that the lifestyle even tough elegant, is quite modest. I learned that the French people enjoy quality in manageable portions. They do not over indulge in anything, rather, enjoy the elegance of simplicity. This has been a very educational and interesting experience. I will miss Paris and will bring a little bit of it home with me to enjoy and share with friends and family.