It looks like about once every month I am unable to have photos. Today its because I'm reinstalling the operating system and I haven't fiddled properly with the cables and software to properly do the digital captures. But I haven't been all lazy -- as of today, readers can add their comments to the travel log. You can share your travel story (France or not), add your point of view, ask a question or add an insult. The best comment wins an all expense-paid trip from France to the destination of your choice, for a postcard of my choosing, if I get around to it.
I managed to get a lot done this week -- I finally bought an ironing board. I haven't needed to do any ironing so far because the weather has been cold, and I can wear a sweater all day over my rack-dried T-shirt (my flat has a washing machine). I bought it at a grand department store downtown called La Samaritaine, and carried it home through the métro.
If I had been taking pictures, I would have probably put a picture of my French ironing board here.
It isn't difficult to take an ironing board on the métro, as long as you keep it vertical and preferably folded. The train was slightly crowded, and I had a distance to go, so I kept me and Blue Baron (the name of my ironing board, which is entirely white) at the back of the train. I had a surreal experience when I stood up at my stop to get off. Two English women were between me and the door, and one said to the other "do you think this is his stop?" to which the other replied "yes, he's standing up to get off." I smiled at them when I left, because I thought it would be impolite to demonstrate my working knowledge of English.
You can't just call La Samaritaine a department store -- it's a grand department store. It sprawls over three or four buildings connected by skywalks, and it sells everything from Paris fashion to kitchenware, crystal, china to designer furniture. It is right by Pont Neuf, which is one of the oldest parts of the city, and it takes advantage of its location by putting huge glass windows in striking locations. They had featured an Indes Exhibition, which was an upper floor divided into small themed rooms crammed full of Indian-themed merchandise -- it was all immaculately arranged and laid out. I would also recommend going to the top floor for CDs and books for a dizzying view through the centre of the store.
Another famous grand department store is the BHV, which is 150 years old, despite its modern sounding name. It is right beside the Hotel de Ville, which supply the H and the V for its name (the B comes from Bazar). It is also large, but quite a bit less dramatic than the others. It has pretty reasonable prices, however, so I'll probably decide to buy my iron from there in a couple of weeks. The BHV also has a Box & Co, which is a floor entirely dedicated to boxes, shelves and containers.
The Bon Marche is more of the same, a grand expensive department store with a dizzying view from the top floor to the bottom.
Finally, the Galleries Lafayette is an historical building with an extremely large stained glass dome in the middle of its ten floors. They are also known for their extremely large and stylish ads, which are periodically protested by various women's advocacy groups. For example, in January, their model was dressed in brightly coloured, slightly torn clothing with a cartoonish black eye, and resulted in protests by anti-violence groups. This February, the model was wrapped in skintight black leather with a lampshade on her head and plugged into the wall. I saw one poster with an official sticker of protest, indicating that women shouldn't be exploited on posters, especially as furniture. This month, the model seems to be entirely a full-frontal nude except for the body paint of Latin American Indians. Hopefully this won't offend anybody.
If I had been taking pictures, I would have probably put pictures of the grand department stores here. It's starting to sound better all the time, isn't it?
On Wednesday, I was supposed to practice in the pool with a local dive club. The French don't recognize the PADI certification that I have for scuba diving -- much like with light bulbs, they have their own superior standard. I have to admit that the French diving certification does seem much more comprehensive, which is probably due to the fact that the certifying agency is run by the government rather than a commercial agency. The French love of order, regulation and law is thoroughly demonstrated in the necessary paperwork. So I was going to do an equivalency test for their first level, but unfortunately I wasn't permitted in the pool without a medical certificate from a sports doctor for insurance reasons.
If I had been taking pictures, I'd probably have put a picture of me in my speedo here.
On Thursday, I was supposed to meet some other Canadians at a French bistro near Les Halles de Molemen. There was a change of venue, and although I was notified well ahead of time, I had written down the wrong address and I spend three hours walking around the beautiful St. Eustache church searching for a familiar street or gypsy music (there was a noted guitarist playing there that night). Although I never found the restaurant or the other Canadians, I saw a full moon rising above the oddly gabled and chimneyed roofs of Paris.
If I had been taking pictures, I'd probably have put a picture of that oddly beautiful sight here, and then another picture of me in my speedo while I had your attention.
I'm going to end with some particularly useless French words to enjoy. Have a good week everybody!
P.S. Although I do have and wear a pair of Speedo(TM) brand swimwear, they are actually swimming shorts as opposed to their trademark tighties. There, now you can rest at night.
Comments, corrections, your experiences, your impressions, diving in Europe, funny French words.
Posted by The Inaccurate Tourist at March 1, 2002 12:00 PM