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The highs and lows of Paris

Yes, we went to the top of la tour Eiffel. I thought it great, although the view…

This trip was significant though. I was raised in a hard-core tourist town, Kelowna, BC, and I grew up laughing at and sometimes despising tourists. For me to adopt the role of Tourist was very hard, and for me to actually enjoy the artifice and the exploitation - yes Banksy, you do always Exit Through the Gift Shop - is a remarkable development.

The trip up the tower was preceded a couple of evenings earlier by a trip to the Paris Opera.

The full three acts of Tristan et Isolde present a very long - 5 1/2 hours with intermissions - and very emotional retelling of a 12th century Irish folk tale about “the illicit love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult.” I will say that the production presented at l’Opéra Bastille was like nothing I’ve ever seen in Canada.

A day or two later we visited to “real” Paris Opera at le Palais Garnier. Honestly words fail to describe the brilliance and the opulence of this building. For me at least the highlight has to be the auditorium ceiling fresco by Marc Chagall, but every part of the building was like a trip to a fairy tale.

Other highlights: when you take the Paris Metro (which is excellent) you gain entry by way of little paper tickets purchased from a vending machine. Despite advice from Susan I was in the habit of throwing the ticket away once we were inside the turnstiles. Unlike the Vancouver Translink system, once you’re in the Metro system you never find yourself outside of it until the end of your trip. (Yes I’m thinking of the Seabus to Skytrain journey). Why would I need to keep an now expired ticket?

Big mistake. Halfway down a long tunnel we ran into a phalanx of very serious Metro employees checking everyone’s ticket to make sure that they had paid. For me though it was no ticket, and a 50€‎ fine, on the spot.

On the other hand, while on the train, we were serenaded by an old Italian player of a button accordion. After a few tunes - people actually sang along - he trundled up and down the car with a paper cup accepting donations.

Oh yes, and in an act that really runs counter to everything that I believe in, we visited the Galaries Lafayette department stores, where I purchased a gorgeous $800+ black cashmere, knee length coat, marked down to 250€‎. It is, without question, the single most wonderful piece of clothing that I have ever owned.

Yes, Paris is making me care about fashion…. glasses too.