Pariseans Deux-encore

 

Paris. What can one say? Certainly the most beautiful city in the world. A city of many contrasts and sights. A great place to relax for a few days after our two weeks of solid walking along the Chemin de St Jacques.

 

 

The weather remains uncertain and unseasonal but we walked our way around Paris. Apart from the hordes tramping around the major sights, Parisians seemed to be contentedly going about their days.
 

 

We relived parts of our previous time here, and took in the ambiance of Paris whilst enjoying the time together. Tomorrow we go our separate ways for almost two weeks, Yvonne to Scotland and Randall to Germany. Interesting prospects both. Even if not in the same class as Paris.

 

 

 

Travelling with technology

The question of the moment is about the degree of communications you need to take with you when travelling. The last time we walked in France, it rained all the first day and our one mobile phone got wet and never recovered. There were no blogs and we used phone cards to make any forward bookings we needed. We got by.

We are now at the other end of the spectrum. Two smart phones, a computer and a 'need' for wireless access each night for news, banking, stocks management, weather forecasting and emails to family. Whilst it seems good to be keeping up with the technologies, we feel we have lost something along the way. Nostalgia says is was more fun back then.

In any case, we enjoyed our time in Lyons and have quickly settled back into French lifestyle. To date, we are not noticing too much impact from the GFC. The people seem much the same as before and just getting on with their lives.

This will be the last posting on this blog for a while as the focus is now on recording the walk on our other site. http://www.ourwalksinfrance.blogspot.fr/

And when it comes down to it, we feel very lucky to have the health and capacity to get away on trips like this.

So did we really lose a day of our lives

Not quite Dr Who and time travel but you have to be impressed when you can walk out of home one afternoon and 24 hours later (local timings) be sitting on a train in France skimming across the countryside towards Lyons. Just what William Kingsley, guest of HM judges in 1827, would say about that compared to his own 108 days of relocation, travel beggars belief.

As we sat in our brasserie awaiting our summer salads and transform into boomers grappling with the power of our smart phones, fearful of data download cost implications from using Mr Google when accessing the power in our palms.

By morning our travel world has now changed-thanks to our smart phones. In the old days, we used to get a local map from Reception, ask a few questions about direction to so and so museum, gallerie, cafe etc and be on our way exploring. A couple of arguments later, a few stops to check maps and an encounter or two with locals and we get around for our orientation day.

Not any more. We visited SFR telecom where we bought new SIM cards and loaded up with 'special' French and data. So now I have lost my wife who is walking along using map functions, checking reviews of cafes and restaurants and telling me off for not checking before we left the hotel that the Musee des Beaux arts is closed on Tuesdays. What used to be “fun” is now more efficient and easier. Wonder when my wife will return to me?

In the mid afternoon we sat for a quiet drink in Brasserie Georges, a huge brasserie where lots of well known people have been. As I drink my beer, Yvonne is texting home on viber. Where will it end or are we heading into new and different travel experiences?

If I thought my day of moving with travel technology was over, then I was mistaken. On returning home for a break before heading out for dinner, I decided to post this blog. In the morning I had been unable to re-establish wi-fi and so I was very pleased to find that whatever the problem was, it was now gone and all was working perfectly. So with phones and computer up and running we were set.

Yvonne stopped working her phone long enough to warn me that you, my clients, preferred blogs with associated pics. That meant I needed to download today's pics onto the computer. No problems. Before leaving for the trip I had cleaned up the computer from previous trips pics wise and erased all photos from my camera. But now the computer was delighted to find that Yvonne only has 2573 pics on her camera and went into overdrive downloading before finishing with the ones taken today. Great.

So hope the pic selected meets your needs.

Actually, our day with technology combines well with first impressions on how France is 'moving forward'. The cafes, brasseries and bars are still stuck with tradition-we found it difficult to move beyond the idea of croissant and coffee for breakfast. And the cafe manager with no clients assured us that although he could and does make a mean croque madame, he could not make us one before 11:30 as that is not how it works in France. So we left him to his old world ways.

But then there were plenty of people getting around by bike and there were plenty of racks with rental bikes around for locals and tourists. We saw quite a few people using scooters, even older women. And plenty of 'green' oriented shops doing good business.

Is it better to preserve your culture, keeping to old ways? Or do you globalise your shops, ways and services so we can all 'feel at home' wherever you are?

Heading back for another fix

Since 2009, we did venture back into France in 2010 for just a couple of weeks whilst Randall walked in the Dordogne area with a few friends.   And for some reason we can keep on creating reasons for yet another holiday there.  But for one of us at least, it is really a bit more than a good place for a holiday break.

Since 2010, we have pursued our post paid work lives, further developed our hobbies and kept in regular contact with our now remotely living families.  But the 'quest' to develop our lives further remains.  And France, and French country living, on at least a semi-permanent basis, remains an attractive idea.

So for 2013, we are renting a couple of gites for the month of August;  one in the small village St Andre de Cubzac in the wine growing area not far from Bordeaux and the other in Pignan a town not far from Montpellier and the Mediterranean.  

Not really a holiday and not really 'normal' living.

Finally, maybe this all started for Randall back in 1967 when 'sitting' in the French Quarter of New Orleans getting a portrait drawn?