25 August 2007

I woke up this morning in Paris. It is my first day here and so actually I woke up very early this morning in Paris, before the sky had even turned gray, and long before the Boulangeries and Patisseries began opening their doors.

I found this out when, just after seven, I slipped out the front door of the Hotel Londres-Eiffel. The sky had turned a pale blue and after all I was in Paris! so I didn't want to sit in my hotel room any longer.

I turned left off of Rue Saint-Dominique onto Avenue Bosquet, and walked the few blocks that it took to reach the Seine. After China, and particularly at seven on a Saturday morning, France is quiet and clean. I walked along the Seine, watching the sun rise over the marble bridges and buildings, admiring how well public statues have been preserved. Although China is 4,000 years old, there are few places where you see evidence of it; here, on the other hand, history is everywhere. The sky turned a golden pink and I watched the boatmen throw off loops of the rope that tethered their boats to the shore overnight.

By the time that I reached the Champs-Elysees, I was hungry. I began looking for a cafe, bistro--anywhere where I could have un tas de cafe et un croissant--but no luck. I kept walking. Finally, back down by the Seine, I found a small restaurant that had just opened and settled in at one of its window tables with my coffee, croissant, and Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" (the perfect Paris book). It's France, and so of course the milk was hot and the croissant buttery. I happily lingered over my chapters.

I rode the subway to do some shopping (I needed walking shoes and more reading material!) and then made my way back home. My first-day impression of Paris, though, couldn't be better. Maybe it's just being back in the West, but I feel like I've come home! Everyone--from the salesclerk at the Puma shoe store to the waiter at breakfast to strangers in the subway--is friendly. My French is bad but more comes back to me by the hour: I practiced the line "I spent the summer in China, so speaking French right now is difficult" on my walk downtown and it worked wonders. I really can't get over how nice everyone is here: the salesclerk chatted with me about California, Boston, and American movies and one guy even walked me quite a ways to the right subway line when I was lost. Despite being here by myself, I haven't felt a bit lonely today.

Now I'm off to a corner bistro for lunch. I'm hoping for a glass of white wine and a salade nicoise... I love this country...