Friday, December 21, 2007

The sun has set on Paris, her day is done...

I don't believe Paris is the city that it used to be anymore. Sure, back in the day, it was probably a highlight city. But, today's Paris, feels used and abused. It has lost all of its romantic allure, and the ol' gal is just old.

London, by contrast, seems to have received some sort of architectural plastic surgery. London is still quite beautiful, clean, and kept. The people are welcoming, and seem to take great pride in their country/city. Even the expats from the US who have settled there, seem to have embraced the city and its culture, and speak to highly of it.

Before departing the States, I had read an article that stated that London has surpassed Paris as the new culinary capital of Europe. Apparently, the strong Pound, a stronger tourist market, and a more tightly (densely) populated metro have all drawn the best chefs from Paris to London (as well as the rest of the world's top chefs.) Also, London is a much more cosmopolitan city than it used to be. It seems the English language is almost a minority voice in the pubs and restaurants throughout the town. Chinese visitors quality Chinese food; Germans expect top-notch German restaurants; etc. Thus, the CITY benefits from this culinary supply and demand phenomenon.

I thought all of the above was probably just some British-born travel writer expressing his patriotism for him homeland.

But, after visiting both cities, I can honestly say that Paris is at least a distant 20th place (or higher) behind London. Not just in food, but in sites, friendliness to tourists, cleanliness, and all-round feel (and SMELL!) Bottom line: Paris STINKS!

The people stink, the rooms smell, the rental cars wreak, the subways bring tears to your eyes (literally,) and don't even THINK of waiting in line at the Eiffel Tower without a safety stick of spearmint gum! The food stunk, the service stunk, the queues (lines) stunk, blah, blah, blah...

We did the typical tourist things: Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, toured The Louvre, rode the Metro, visited the Moulin Rouge, etc. But, I have to tell you folks, the place was a big smelly hassle. Originally, I had planned an equal number of days for Paris as we had scheduled for London. Then, due to some schedule changes, I had to steal a day from Paris and add it to the London itinerary (and I'm glad we did!)

We only had one FULL day for all of Paris. We had planned another half-day for the morning before we left. But, after the way we were treated for the prior 36 hours, we were ready to GET OUT – and FAST!

I'm glad that we went (so I can mark a few things off my lifelist.) But, to me, Paris was kinda like seeing the Mona Lisa at The Louvre. You go to see her because she's famous and all (and because you're in the neighborhood.) But, there are many, MANY better paintings in that museum than the Mona Lisa!!!

So, if you are in Europe and Paris is within reach, by all means schedule a day-trip. But, be organized, get in, and get out – and spend the days you save at pretty much ANY other city in Europe.

Our Eiffel Tower tips: 1.) The ice skating rink that used to be up there – AIN'T THERE ANYMORE!!! (I lugged Kelly's skates around all day, but came up empty-handed.) They USED to have one, but, all they have now is some sort of snow shoe track during the Winter. (Oh, did I forget to mention in this post that Paris is COLD!!! (too.)) ;-)

Weather statement for a second: As smelly as Paris is (literally,) I can't imagine how much WORSE it must smell when things heat-up. Ewwwwww!

Eiffel Tower Tip 2.) Skip the long line, take a wallet-full of Euros with you, and get in the “Restaurant” line. You'll go straight to the front of the line, express to the first level – where you can then buy tickets to upper levels (but, they only accept cash up there.) Note: You MAY need to secure reservations for the restaurant if you actually want to EAT there. But, it works as a short-cut, too. ;-)

Eiffel Tower Tip 3.) Go right before sunset. Because when you exit the Metro at the top of the stairs and look upon the tower – in the morning, the sun is directly behind it – and it makes for POOR (backlit) photos. Whereas, in the afternoon, the sun will be to your back, and provide perfect lighting. Plus, after sunset, they light-up the WHOLE THING!!!! (for some kewl nite shots.)

The Louvre was interesting (if you're an art buff.) It stay open late on Wednesdays and Fridays. It's basically built right above a Metro stop – you don't even go outside. On Fridays' after 6pm, “kids” under 24 or 26 (can't remember exactly) get free admission (check their website for details.) But, beware on Wednesday and Friday evenings – because their food shops still close their doors around 3:00 pm. So, if you want to combine The Louvre with a meal-break – make it lunchtime.

The Metro: It was efficient if nothing else. But, you seem to live life like a Persian Gopher. You don't see the sunlight, you are scurried here and there underground (the SMELLY, twisting caverns below,) and you seldom see the light of day. It's rather depressing, actually. But, the subways get you to your destinations so rapidly, that I can't imagine a tourist “doing” Paris any other way. (Unfortunate, really...)

So, we whine about being trapped underground, and we whine about being too cold when we are above ground. Whine, whine, whine...

Not quite.

I'm pleased to say that Brussels, Belgium was a wonderful experience. Yes, it was cold, too! But, it was COZY! We rolled into town with no plans or directions. We simply followed the signs to the “City Center.” Once there, we stumbled upon a little Winter Pret (street fair.) The streets were narrow, quaint, brick/cobblestone, the buildings were historical, and they all seemed to center around marvelous old churches.

We parked Pepe' Le' Pew (our cute little stinky French rental car,) and strolled the shops to the Winter Pret. There, this little city center was lined with little wooden vendor huts with typical (European-typical) fair foods and trinkets. The fair also had the MOST INTERESTING carousels (See our pictures.) Plus, a skating rink and ferris wheel (since we didn't know that there was a rink, we had naturally left Kelly's skates with Pepe'.)


For our first course (of our complete four-course fair-food feast,) we had pomme freits (Belgian French fries.) We followed our tasty fries with a large, delicious Belgian bratwurst (I can't remember what they called them.) There were served on what tasted like a French role, and smothered in grilled onions and mustard – Mmmm, warm and toasty.) We barely began to digest our brats as we then headed to the Belgian Waffle hut. Not just any ol' waffle – WHITE CHOCOLATE-covered waffles. (If you're still counting, we are now up to THREE warm courses of food in our feast – did we tell you Europe is COLD???!!!!! Yet, THESE Belgium folks know how to warm your heart! :-)

Kelly, then pulled me into a nearby Chocolatier to buy a box of Belgian chocolates. (I guess this is partly MY fault. When I was in Europe YEARS ago, I went to Brussels and bought a box of chocolates for Kelly as a gift. Typically, any box of chocolates has a few “casualties” - the yucky ones with the wrong kinda center fillings, or the wrong kinda bitter chocolate. But, she LOVED the Belgian chocolates, and not a one was missed. :-) So, it was pretty much predetermined that she wouldn't leave Brussels without another box of chocolates in-hand.)

After Brussels, I had a bit of a surprise in store for her. While reviewing other people's lifelists on the Internet, I noticed that several of them had, “spend the night in a castle” on their lists. At first, I thought that this was some sort of nearly impossible fantasy (like “spend the night in the guest room of the White House” -- or something like that.) But, after a few clicks on the Internet, I learned that quite a few castles and chateaus have been converted into hotels or bed & breakfast inns. So, I rented us a room in a CASTLE!!!


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! I'm glad my European 'hometown' came through for you guys! I'm always trying to tell folks BXL is better than Paris. And it sounds like you had boudin blanc (the sausage). Note: Paris is better if you stay away from the biggest tourist sites. Well, and if you speak the language, too...

Nick & Kelly said...

Our biggest issue with Paris is that they nickel an dimed us to death. It was our first/only time staying at a name-branded hotel (Holiday Inn) -- of which I am a Platinum Priority Level Member.

I have stayed at a LOT of Holiday Inn properties in the States (our favorites being the Holiday Inn "Express" units.) EACH AND EVERY Holiday Inn that we stayed at in the States has pretty much gone out of their way to make our stay MORE enjoyable. And, once I reached the Platinum level, I inherited a few extra benefits -- and their personal service seemed to TRIPLE!!!

As a matter of fact, I have stayed at tons or Marriott hotels, a few Hilton hotels, etc. -- and NONE of the chains have provided us with the CONSTANT above & beyond service that we have received from Holiday Inns.

Their service has been so superb, that it has been almost DIFFICULT for me to pay more! (e.g. if I forget something like toothpaste, instead of redirecting me to some convenience store or vending machine -- they send a new tubs to my room -- no charge. Or, if I ask about a nice place to eat nearby, they reach behind the counter and pull out several buy one, get one free dinner coupons.)

Whereas in Paris, our hotel nickel & dimed us to death. They wanted to charge us something like 6 Euros per hour for Internet access. Then, they wanted to charge us 12 Euros per head for a LOUSY continental breakfast. (We thought it was free because EVERY other hotel, motel, etc. that we have stayed at in Europe has offer free breakfast. And, there were NO SIGNS near the breakfast bar that said it cost extra.) Yet, when I went to check out of the room, they tried to tag an extra 48 Euros onto our bill!!!
Had I known that we would have to PAY for the breakfast, I would have stuffed a handful of croissants and jelly packets into my backpack, too!

But, it wasn't only the hotel that nickel & dimed us to death. It was also the restaurants, the shops, etc.

The food was also horrible. Not just the breakfast buffet in our hotel, but also our restaurant meals were terrible.

And, the "big city" thing is NOT an excuse! London is a big city, and we had GREAT service anywhere/everywhere we went. And, while the Internet wasn't free in our London hotel, they DID have an acceptable daily rate, and gave me three days of Internet access for the price of one. And EACH AND EVERY MEALS that we ordered in London was delicious and fulfilling. Ditto for every meal that we ate in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany.

Having visited the French-influenced New Orleans so many times, I had a certain preconceived expectation for the hospitality of the French people.

The French could learn a LOT about hospitality from their Big Easy cousins. The Cajuns have ALWAYS rolled out the red carpet for us, and welcomed us with the BEST FOOD and ENTERTAINMENT in the States. And, they didn't feel the need to nickel and dime us along the way...

Je dis au revoir à Paris.

Nick.

Kim said...

Yeah, Paris is the Heathers of cities, I think. It knows it's "cool" enough to get away with treating people like crap. Only thing that surprises me about your experience is having bad food. I can't say I've ever had bad food there.
As for hotels, I really can't say. First time somebody else took care of all the details, and since then either I've stayed in rat-holes and eaten street crepes for breakfast or slept on somebody's couch.

Anyway, Brussels is better - it's the capital, NATO's there, it's way cosmopolitan, but it still feels like a little medieval city, more humble, and not overrun with tourists, so they don't hate you - not at the top of anybody's list the way Paris is.