2. Be prepared for terrible smells. From the metros, to the streets, to the people. The B.O. on a crowded Metro ride can make you want to puke. I know you people have soap and deodorant - I've seen it in your MonoPrix for about the price of your Metro ticket. Maybe if you had more public bathrooms, your city could smell better.
3. The weather in July is fabulous. One day in the whole time we've been here got to 79. That's the highest it's been.
4. Speaking of the Metro, what a system. Here's your life saving, trip saving, and most of all, sanity saving advice (free of charge, you're welcome). Should you find yourself here, find a metro info worker who speaks English and is friendly (not as easy as it sounds) as soon as possible. Second, purchase this magical pass they CAN sell you (that's where the nice, English speaking worker comes in because some will tell you it's "not possible"). It looks like this :
And is called a Navigo. Mom and I got one for the month for Zones 1-2. Kody got one that was weekly for Zones 1-2. Those zones cover just about everything you need except the airport and Versailles. Next, have your picture made for the pass in one of the hundreds of photomatons scattered throughout the stations. Get the 16 mini prints, cut one out, and you're free to go all over Paris with a swipe of your magical pass and you don't have to worry about your paper day-pass ticket not working, getting stuck in a station, and a mean French metro worker telling you that it wasn't validated right - too bad, so sad, buy another one. Oh, and get a map and learn the ends of the lines. It's easy (although quite smelly sometimes) if you can get through all that.
5. Learn these French words/phrases. And quickly. You'll get much better service if you do.
Bonjour (hello -in the daytime); Bonsoir(good evening); Au Revoir (goodbye); Merci (thank you); Non, Merci (no, thank you); Pardon (excuse me/sorry); est-ce que vous parlez anglais (do you speak English?); Allez-vous-en (go away!); sortie (exit); L'addition, s'il vous plait (May we have the check, please?)
6. The buildings in Paris are beautiful even if other things aren't. The details will blow you away. There is so much history, and I find myself going home to look things up that we see everyday.
7. If you see a free bathroom - use it. They are very few and far between, often not very clean, and often you must pay to use one if you can ever find it. Oh, and carry hand sanitizer at all times. You won't always find soap in the bathroom. I typically wash my hands twice anywhere I see soap. And I can't forget to mention, many bathrooms are Co-Ed. Good luck. You're best bet is go to McDonald's, buy something, and save your receipt. It has a code to their WC.
8. The food is so fresh and so delicious, although different. I plan on dedicating a whole post to food.
9. Pick pockets are for real here. There are signs and warnings everywhere. Luckily, we have kept all our things (knock on wood), but we've seen quite a few people get pick pocketed. One American man was screaming at a girl who took his wallet and was trying to jump off the metro so he would be shut behind the doors and whisked away. He caught her, had hold of her arm, and was trying to drag her back on with him. All the while, the doors were closing on them, but I think we saw his wallet fall out from her purse. That's just one story. That particular day, we saw two pickpockets and had two people try to pull two "ring scams" on us. The crazies were out. It's really exhausting to keep up with everything all the time - thank God we live in America, particularly the South.
10. Everybody smokes. A lot. Apparently they need a surgeon general and a few more thousand reports from doctors and researchers to convince them that it's bad. Really, it's incredible they haven't all died from smoking directly and/or secondhand smoke. Luckily, it seems they all go outside to smoke (not sure if it's allowed inside or not) and mainly just while they're walking down the street.
11. And because I know it's good form to end on a positive, most people are friendly if you attempt to speak to them first in French and ask if they know English before assuming that they do. Although, they typically pick up on our accents from the second we say "Bonjour" and immediately switch to English.
Au Revoir!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Rue des Irlandais,Paris,France
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