Keepin' It Real - Part 7

I started this blog several months ago and wanted to make sure I finished it before we left!  Here are a few photos of more things I found interesting in Paris.   

Beautiful Tiles:  Periodically when you are walking along, you see these tiles mixed within the concrete on the sidewalks.

Chairs:  I love the cafe chairs.  They are all different, and very comfortable.

More Chairs:  It is hard to tell, but inside churches the wood chairs are all attached with a wooden bar under the seat, so that they remain in a straight row.

City Limit:  When leaving a town, they put a name of the town on a sign with a red line through it.  "You are now leaving Bourges."

Warning labels:  If you want to smoke in France, they are not afraid to tell you, right on the box, how bad it is for you.

Swimsuits:  There is often strict rules about what you can wear when swimming.  Boys usually have to have on tight suits, not loose or baggy shorts.  Some places even require you to wear a swim cap.  What do you do if you don't have these items?  Don't worry.  Many pools have a vending machine so that you can buy these items.

Mail Trucks:  This is a photo of the mail trucks that travel around France.  

Vending Machine:  The bottles in the vending machine are all turned upside down.

Blueberries:  Up until the pandemic, you were able to self-serve and weigh the blueberries at the Monoprix grocery store.  Now they are put in a container for you.

Liquor:  On Sundays, after 12:30 p.m., the alcohol at our local store is closed off so that you can't buy it.

Car Rentals:  Like in the United States, you can rent cars from Hertz, Avis, and Budget.  But if you need a care for an hour or even a day, you can download the Zity App and get a car immediately.  The keys are already in the car.  The App gives you a code to unlock the door and get the keys.  Then you are free to go.

Gelato Everywhere:  You can get gelato anywhere in France.  We will miss the availability of this cool treat!

Bridges:  Did you know that there are many bridges over the Seine in Paris?  It probably doesn't surprise you that Jeff has run every single one of them.  Will and I finally took this train bridge over the Seine.  Here are the views of the Eiffel Tower as we ride the RER C.

Notre Dame:  While we are disappointed that we never got to take the kids inside Notre Dame, it has still been an important part of our time here in Paris.  This past month, they finally allowed us to get closer to the cathedral by moving the barricade.  They have also included some art work, done by children, around the structure.

Pharmacy:  Here is a vending machine of items found in a pharmacy.  You can access it at any hour of the day.

Toilet Paper:  With this brand of toilet paper, you can flush the tube down the toilet because it is compostable.

Stand Here:  With the new restrictions of social distancing, schools have placed these signs outside of their schools to identify where kids should stand waiting to go inside.

Lunch/Dinner:  Lunch is served in a Parisian cafe from 11-2 and dinner from 7-?.  If you come between those times, you can't order food.  We have often times forgotten this only to be told you can get drinks and that is all.  One way they signify this is that the staff set the tables with table cloths when it is time for dinner and leave the tables bare when it is time for just drinks.

Best Baguette in Paris:  Every year there is a contest to determine the best baguette in Paris.  The winner then provides the baguettes for Prime Minster for that year.  I finally visited the 2020 winner last week - Les Saveurs de Pierre Demours.  While the baguette was good, we all agreed that the baguettes from our neighborhood are better.

Real Estate Agencies:  In addition to their being boulangeries everywhere in France, there are real estate agencies.  Every time we enter a new neighborhood, or even a new city, the first thing Jeff does it check out the price of owning an apartment in that area.  

Brown Grass:  Last July, when we arrived in Paris, I remember being surprised at how brown the grass was around the trees and in some of the parks.  I had forgotten about this since we have been enjoying the greenery all spring.  But since we got back from our trip, we have noticed a stark change in the grass.  It is again brown in some areas.  This is so strange to me considering at home in Minnesota, that this is the time when things are really green!

Notebooks:  I am not sure we will ever be able to go back to regular notebooks again!  We have loved this little notebooks from the Monoprix.  They are not lined but instead have graph paper or an accounting grid inside of them.  Good thing we are bringing a ton back with us to the U.S.  

I hope you have enjoyed this little insights into life in France.  I have enjoyed capturing these images as a reminder of our time here.  

Love,

Betsy