NOTES FROM RICHARD’S PARISIAN JOURNAL

 

• American Airlines sent apology that I did not have lie-flat seat and placed 25,000 miles in my Advantage account. And I had never complained to anyone at AA.
• I sat next to both a French woman who makes her living teaching Etiquette and Manners to people in the States.
• She picked our flight because she loved the service she received from a Haitian gentleman who has been flying with AA for 27 years. He formally introduced himself and I shook hands. My traveling companion told me that the most important rule of good manners is to immediately extend one’s hand in all social situations. When I asked about fist bumps, she said something in French that translated to “don’t be a vulgarian”.
• She was lovely and I must confess to being more than a little self-conscious as I attached my panko-encrusted shrimp on the dining tray.
• I experienced the quick and certain endomorphic brain rush when I saw the sign with my name leaving customs. It took four and a half minutes to get from baggage claim through passport control and about the same time to have my driver get me to the car. And they say travel is a hassle.
• The George V doorman welcomed me by name as though he did not realize that my previous visits to Paris previously consisted of small places on the Left Bank with aspirations of three-star recognition.
• The lovely ladies in the lobby made it clear that checking in at a desk was not what they had in mind and I was whisked to my room and personally checked in though it was only 11:15 in the morning.
• The Champs Elysee is no longer the world’s finest boulevard. There is an aspect of sadness here as the city observed the first anniversary of the attacks that killed 130 people exactly one year ago. Sting,  did a lively, poignant set in the stage of the just re-opened nightclub where most of the killing took place.
• As I walk the length of the Boulevard in a light rain with a dark sky I notice few of the fashionable French one would see years ago strolling like proud peacocks in their finery. The crowds now are not tourists. About a third of them are from the Middle East and habibs…. are easier to spot than an Hermes or a Chanel.
• Perhaps most shocking in the presence of a lone refugee, always a woman, seated in the middle of the street with a simple paper cup placed in front of them. I stood under the awning of a Rolex store and counted the number of passerby who walked past one stoic woman – I stopped after 750. Not a single franc was placed in her cup. She was invisible.
• The Parisians still maintain their love for expensive racing cars even though most will never drive one. There are major showrooms for Peugeot, Mercedes, and Renault along the Champs Elysee. I can’t imagine that any in the throngs are serious buyers. The salesmen answer questions they’ve heard thousands of time before. Mostly, based on what I overheard, about price.
• But there is something new. On several side streets leading off the Boulevard, one sees four or five of the world’s most expensive sports cars lined up – here the most expensive Lamborghini ever produced, there a Formula 1 Ferrari. A group of Senegalese men are the stewards of these cars and they hold signs explaining that you can drive one for only 89 Euros. The French stand in the rain taking photos with their smartphones. A few yards away another refugee sits stoically in the rain – her cup empty as the motor of an Aston Martin revamp up to begin a short ride with an excited driver. 
• The newsstands along the Boulevard are all plastered with the same four magazine covers but the one that draws your eye is the yellow cover page from Charlie Hebbdo showing  President Obama running away from  a  group of Trumpish wolves snapping at his heels. 
• The US election outcome is on every other cover and the European newscasts are talking about nothing else. There are optimists on this side of the Atlantic, in that strange way that Europeans allow themselves to be optimists . One of the lead analysts on French television… explained the bright side of the US election last night to his viewers. He essentially said that Trump has been a liar for most of his adult life so it may be that he meant very little of what he said during his campaign.
• Our election ended as one of the world’s most important climate change summits was to begin in Morocco. The Europeans have been thrilled that the Chinese now seem willing to become engaged in the efforts to reverse climate change. The Americans have taken a leadership role in the establishment of worldwide environmental standards. But three days ago, it became clear that the new leader of the free world believes that climate change is “a complete hoax”. 
• In addition to their obvious concerns about issues revolving around immigration and security, the people in Europe are generally opposed to inaction on the environment and the death penalty, something they see as cruel and barbaric. These are, perhaps, topics best avoided when traveling on the Continent.
• Tonight I will watch as the Christmas decorations are unveiled at the Four Seasons George V. I will then dine in three-star Michelin food in a series of settings reserved for the hotels special guests.
• The rain has stopped and the restaurants in the 8th arrondisemont ….are getting ready for a late afternoon and Sunday evening rush.