Comments on: Americans in Paris, part II

By: TC

TC — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:14:50 +0000

Actually, in French, “ferment” can either be a verb form meaning “they close” or a noun meaning “a microscopic organism that promotes fermentation.” Though the two are pronounced differently and are etymologically unrelated, as you say.

By: Demosthenes

Demosthenes — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:46:03 +0000

I am really lucky to have the opportunity to visit Paris this spring break with my choir. Needless to say we dominate. Hopefully we get to visit the catacombs when we go.

By the way, I especially loved the line “It was a variation on carpe diem — hold off from seizing the day until it has fully matured.” awesome

By: Bryan Waterman

Bryan Waterman — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:27:59 +0000

ooh. we did eat good bread and cheese and drink good wine on a daily basis. but then again, we were with slade. what else would you expect?

By: Bryan Waterman

Bryan Waterman — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 21:23:35 +0000

To tell you the truth, I spent so much of my summer in 18th-century Paris (most of the letters I was working on were written by Americans there in the 1790s and early 1800s) that my brief engagement with Paris was intellectual more than sensory. Add to that mix that we were at the end of a very expensive trip (the exchange rate was killing us!), the fact that we had a full kitchen and grocery nearby, and the fact that we had kids with us, and we simply didn’t eat out as much as you’d expect. In fact, our best meals were in the south (the best meal of all was an incredible seafood platter in Nice). The one night we did all go out as a group of adults in Paris we went to a lovely little neighborhood place I couldn’t begin to tell you where, but the sad fact is, when you live where we live it takes a hell of a meal to impress. This was kind of a medium-range West Village meal: perfectly pleasant, but not designed to slay you.

In fact, I enjoyed myself more at coffee/breakfast, sitting in cafes.

I actually tried hard not to make this a family travel blog. For those readers who are sweet enough to want to see some pictures we posted on line for our families (we love you Rachel!), you can find them here. They’re mostly from Monaco; a few from Paris.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:57:51 +0000

Bry,

This is possibly the first “inaugural Paris visit” account I’ve ever read that didn’t mention food. Well…unless you count the fermentation.

I’ve never seen subteranean Paris. The Roman catacombs of San Priscilla, which I visited this summer, include a wall painting that’s believed to be the first representation of the Virgin Mary. Cool, huh?

So…what else did you do? I love how you just sneak in the passing reference to Aix-en-Provence, as if the Monaco part of the trip were no big deal. Do tell!