Paris is somewhere that we haven’t been for a very long time, probably 20 years or more, and so we decided that it was well overdue a visit.
On the journey over, and to get me into the mood, I watched the film “Le Château de ma mère”, based on Marcel Pagnol’s autobiographical books. I’d seen it before, many years ago, and greatly enjoyed but I think I have watched it in the wrong order and should have watched “La Gloire de mon père” first. Oh well!
Why Aren’t you in School?
Like our trip to Rome earlier this year we enlisted the help of AI to build us out an itinerary to cover things both popular and off the beaten track. This time, with more knowledge of what we were doing, we were able to prompt, Gemini in this case, that we wanted to spend more time outside rather than the raft of museums that it was suggesting.
Having breakfasted at the cafe over the road, where a coffee and pastry each was less than a quarter of the price of breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the only museum we were interested in – the Musée Picasso.
Picasso’s an artist whose work fascinates me but I can’t say that I like all of it. With some of the works it is hard to discern exactly what it is supposed to be. There were plenty of nude paintings that you couldn’t really object to as a viewer but if I’d been the model I certainly might have!
Today was clearly a popular day for school trips as we came across at least three groups during our visit. Every room seemed to have a group of schoolchildren of an ever decreasing age. The younger they were the more transfixed they were. I’m all for a bit of cultural education but they really did get in the way!
The Official Rules vs. Reality
One thing that has often bothered me when travelling through France is road user’s attitude to pedestrian crossings and if anything it is even worse here in Paris. Many crossings have to not only cross the road but also a cycle lane too and those bikes are stopping for nothing!
I asked Gemini to explain to me how Parisian pedestrian crossings work for pedestrians because in my experience they don’t! This is what it said:
- The Law: In France (under Article R415-11 of the Highway Code), drivers are legally required to yield to a pedestrian who has stepped onto a zebra crossing or has clearly indicated an intention to cross. Failure to do so can result in a hefty fine and points off the driver’s license.
- The Reality: Paris drivers operate on a blend of momentum, eye contact, and aggressive negotiation. A painted stripe on the road is often viewed as a polite suggestion rather than an absolute barrier. If you stand rigidly at the curb waiting for traffic to politely halt out of the goodness of their hearts, you could be standing there until dusk.
Noted.
Tomorrow, we are heading into Notre Dame and it will be interesting to compare and contrast with our trip to Westminster Abbey last week. One stark difference is the price – Notre Dame is free…
