My boss was at the airport to greet me - being picked up at the airport after a difficult trip makes life much easier. She went out of her way to do it. It was on a saturday (Halloween) and she had to sacrifice family duties. That was very nice of her
I had boarded the plane around 8 am Friday california time and it was now 2 pm Paris time (9 time zones). Roughly 21 hours of travelling (2 transfers and layovers) had tired and frazzzled me, and I was not in good condition to deal with anything on my own. She bought me lunch and a coffee then dropped me off at my hotel. My apartment wouldn't be ready for 2 more days.
I hadn't had a full night of sleep for a few days because of the time it took to prepare and decide what to pack, do social things, from tapering, minor WDs, etc.
When packing, the less you take, the harder it is to pack because you really have to think about each thing and how much you want to keep it. You start thinking about how much it will encumber your movement at the airport and how much it weighs and how much it will cost to ship it all.
At the hotel, I took a quick nap, got up before dark, put on a coat and hat and walked around the block where the hotel was located and bought a sandwich and some fruit at a tiny grocery store. I was hungry, but I continued walking, carrying my food but not eating. I didn't see anybody eating food in public on the sidewalk or the park. I was wondering if there is a cultural taboo against eating food in public other than at restaurants and cafes. Maybe only slobs or tourists eat in public in France.
So i continued to walk around trying to decide how to eat. I was sleep deprived and in my state, this question was bothering me. I didn't want to look like a greedy slob or a pig or a tourist - I was sure that I would if I were the only one eating in public. So I went to Brançion park. This small park was crowded. 100s of people were there strolling, sitting or standing. But nobody was eating; most of them were reading books alone or in groups. They were all ages, not just students.
I was happy to see so many people reading. The French, Parisians at least, must be very educated and intellectual. This might be a place where I can fit in, feel at home, talk to somebody whose idea of a conversation is something other than the exploits of his favorite hyper-commercialized 'sports' team, and make some friends. I noticed that to the edge of the park was a very large open-air book market covering about an acre of land. Despite my hunger and exhaustion, I started to feel good about being here.
I've never seen so many people reading, not even at a bookstore or library in the US. In California at parks, most people walk, play games, do drum circles, smoke pot, or sit and talk or eat or play with their iCrap devices. Even at American libraries most people don't (and probably can't) read. I have spent a lot of time in American libraries in several states, and most libraries I've been to have degenerated into free daycare centers full of out of control children and ados (adolescents) dumped there or just out of school to be supervised by the librarian until the parents came home from work or shopping or drinking at the corner bar or whatever they were doing that they didn't want children to be with them.
Eventually I gave up. I found a bench and hid my food in a bag where I broke off tiny pieces and surreptitiously ate them.
I had boarded the plane around 8 am Friday california time and it was now 2 pm Paris time (9 time zones). Roughly 21 hours of travelling (2 transfers and layovers) had tired and frazzzled me, and I was not in good condition to deal with anything on my own. She bought me lunch and a coffee then dropped me off at my hotel. My apartment wouldn't be ready for 2 more days.
I hadn't had a full night of sleep for a few days because of the time it took to prepare and decide what to pack, do social things, from tapering, minor WDs, etc.
When packing, the less you take, the harder it is to pack because you really have to think about each thing and how much you want to keep it. You start thinking about how much it will encumber your movement at the airport and how much it weighs and how much it will cost to ship it all.
At the hotel, I took a quick nap, got up before dark, put on a coat and hat and walked around the block where the hotel was located and bought a sandwich and some fruit at a tiny grocery store. I was hungry, but I continued walking, carrying my food but not eating. I didn't see anybody eating food in public on the sidewalk or the park. I was wondering if there is a cultural taboo against eating food in public other than at restaurants and cafes. Maybe only slobs or tourists eat in public in France.
So i continued to walk around trying to decide how to eat. I was sleep deprived and in my state, this question was bothering me. I didn't want to look like a greedy slob or a pig or a tourist - I was sure that I would if I were the only one eating in public. So I went to Brançion park. This small park was crowded. 100s of people were there strolling, sitting or standing. But nobody was eating; most of them were reading books alone or in groups. They were all ages, not just students.
I was happy to see so many people reading. The French, Parisians at least, must be very educated and intellectual. This might be a place where I can fit in, feel at home, talk to somebody whose idea of a conversation is something other than the exploits of his favorite hyper-commercialized 'sports' team, and make some friends. I noticed that to the edge of the park was a very large open-air book market covering about an acre of land. Despite my hunger and exhaustion, I started to feel good about being here.
I've never seen so many people reading, not even at a bookstore or library in the US. In California at parks, most people walk, play games, do drum circles, smoke pot, or sit and talk or eat or play with their iCrap devices. Even at American libraries most people don't (and probably can't) read. I have spent a lot of time in American libraries in several states, and most libraries I've been to have degenerated into free daycare centers full of out of control children and ados (adolescents) dumped there or just out of school to be supervised by the librarian until the parents came home from work or shopping or drinking at the corner bar or whatever they were doing that they didn't want children to be with them.
Eventually I gave up. I found a bench and hid my food in a bag where I broke off tiny pieces and surreptitiously ate them.