Paris in fall. The best. Pourquoi? Let me tell you the ways. First of all, the massive tourist crowds have thinned, the weather is still good (20 C today!), wine events are plentiful and travel kicks into “off season” – so that means deals on hotels and airfares. I am still astounded, even more now (see more on that below), that as a visitor landing at Charles du Galle airport, all one has to show to enter the country is a passport. No visas, landing cards or questions asked. We landed in Terminal 3 on our AirTransat flight and no visa or landing cards were passed out on the plane, as is customary in EVERY other country. You just get in the line and present your passport to a stern-looking passport “Police” officer. Neither my husband nor I were asked any customary questions: where are you from? why are you here? how long are you here for? where are you staying? Just a slight scrutiny of our passport, then a thump of the stamp and an off-handed dismissive flip of the hand to indicate, “you can go.”
Okay, we Canadians are largely a welcome lot to any country given our reputation for being polite, law-abiding and wealthy people. But terrorists have been found breeding and living in many countries in the Western world, including Canada. Particularly since the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, I was prepared for much more stringent controls to enter France this time. Nope, and only in France! Joie de vivre still seems to rule, thank goodness!
A flower cart in the charming pedestrian street Rue Montorgueil.
A sign for a pharmacy on Rue Montorgueil.
Isn’t it time to punch up your kitchen with these colorful SMEG additions?
An interesting painted wall with a beautiful red electric bike on our charming street, Rue Chapon in the 3rd arrondissement.
A bientot!