Bryan's Experience in Colder, Colder Paris

So this weekend I visited Caiqian in Paris! It was quite fun, and on top of that I got to visit a new country, one that spoke entirely a foreign language (despite my six years of French classes, my mind refuses to comprehend it).

Upon arriving at the airport, Caiqian found me. We then went away to her apartment.
It all begins with the world's smallest elevator...

The Apartment

Caiqian assures me that this elevator is a regal addition to her apartment. It's a (supposedly) three man elevator that takes care of climbing five floors, so Caiqian only has to climb one more to get to her sixth floor apartment.

Above: Regal Elevator

And then, to the room..

Above: Peekaboo...

Above: I see you!

Using the best in Paint technology, I digitally reconstructed Caiqan's room from multiple pictures.

Above: The Apartment

Here's a picture of Caiqian wearing a wonderful purple scarf. I can't say I'm not jealous.

Above: My Cutie

Caiqian has a great view of the city, as seen above.

Above: Opened Window and Subsequent View

You can see much of central Paris living quarters from up here. Having the top floor does have some advantages.

The Subway

One part of Paris reminded me of New York, and that was it's extensive subway network. They smell like pee, they both have musical beggars, and they're both complicated if you're Bryan. That said, parts of the Parisian one looked almost medieval.

Above: This is a Subway Station?

So I had an interesting exercise determining where the subway would stop. See a pattern?

Above: Subway Stop

Knowing that subways are fairly automated, then the subway doors should always stop near the same spot. Considering that people's shoes are often filthy, it should be easy to see where the doors stop.

Above: CSI Analysis. "Enhance!"

So stand on the dirty spots if you want a place to stand. It works every time.

Other parts of the subway system have doors. I guess they were tired of people falling in to their deaths. 

Above: Aww... No Fun

The City

So Paris is cold and windy and it makes Bryan sick. Also everything's a clothing shop or an expensive eatery. Finding a printing shop was damn near a nightmare, and everything useful as Caiqian puts it, "is hidden." I guess you have to put touristy shops on the street level while placing supermarkets underground. That said, we visited some lovely places, starting with Caiqian's school.

Above: Top: Caiqian's School Plaque. Bottom: Picture of Caiqian in the Courtyard 

We then moved onto different touristy places via Caiqian's monthly subway pass (I just stood really close by when we passed through the gate, don't tell anyone).

Above: Out-of-Place Carnival Ride

Above: Oooh, Shiny

This was one neat thing found in the subway system near the Louvre.

Above: Neato Upside-down Transparent Glass Pyramid 

And then we emerged in front of the Louvre. No time to go inside I'm afraid, I'll have to wait until next time I'm in Paris.

Above: Kids in front of the Louvre

We took the pictures of each other separately because it is common to have cameras stolen by letting a stranger take a picture! It goes to show a difference in cultural expectations between US and France.

We then moved on to other famous things in Paris that are not the Eiffel Tower.

Above: Poser de Triomphe

No silly, that's not the Arc de Triomphe. These miniatures are everywhere. This is the Arc de Triomphe.

Above: Visitor de Triomphe

Here's a closer picture of the real Arc, on the top.

Above: Pigeons, wait, is that people? No way!

It was pretty big to say the least.

The Food

By far the best part about Paris is Caiqian. But the second best part is the food. My first meal in Paris, at a BAR, was far better than anything I had eaten after three weeks in Scotland.

Above: Bar Food

Above: Steak Tartar!

In fact, at this bar they had steak tartar, one of the few foods on my bucket list that hadn't been eaten. Steak tartar is finely minced raw steak mixed with capers and seasonings. It was delicious, I recommend it to anyone who can stomach raw meat. To those who worry, it's supposed to be much safer than raw hamburger meat because the steak is minced locally, and there is nearly no chance of e-coli from cow waste.

Saturday Morning I was able to wake up and get this.

Above: French Breakfast

 Croissants and hot chocolate > Crumpets and tea. Actually, it's not fair comparing Scottish to French foods. Haggis ain't got nothin' on France-food.

Above: Chinese French Restaurant

In France Caiqian likes going to Chinese restaurants because she can speak to them in Chinese. Either way I never know what's going on.  We had some nice food at a Sushi place, but this was the one place where Texas has a fighting chance. I actually prefer some of the Sushi places we have in Austin. Of course, that might be because our Sushi places are Japanese. 

Anyways, afterwards we got some lychee nuts. I love these things, they are my favorite non-mainstream (apples, bananas) fruit.

Above: Lychee Pyramid

At some point I had this delicious "Pasta with cream, and bacon, and cream." This is my second favorite bacon dish, next to bacon. I highly recommend it.

Above: Delicious Bacon Dish

Above: My last jab at scottish food this post, I promise

This lie is not bacon. Don't let the name confuse you. Get some Jamon Iberico in you instead.

Above: Lightning-Fast-Eater Caiqian

You don't want to get between Caiqian and her food if you value your life.

Above: Soupe aux Oignons

I was actually surprised french onion soup was just called onion soup here. Makes sense though. This soup had soft onions in a warm broth with toasted bread on the top covered in toasted cheese. Not very gooey, but that's how I imagine the soup was supposed to taste. Again, recommended.

Above: 100% Strawberry Juice

I was under the impression that strawberry juice production was infeasible due to high cost. But here it cost as much as orange juice! I loved it, like all other food and drink here.

Above: The World's Best Creme Brulee (slightly over-burnt)

This was the one food Caiqian was raving about before I arrived. This creme brulee ( I know there are some accents I'm missing) was still warm on the bottom, and it disintegrates in your mouth. MMmmm....

Leaving

Unfortunately I could not stay forever. Caiqian had an opinion on that.

Above: I'm real good at keeping Caiqian happy

To compound that, Caiqian's laptop broke Sunday.

Above: Troublemaker

Also, it's inconvenient to buy a French computer since the keyboard is radically different.

Above: AZERTY Keyboard

On the trip back I was very sick, probably since Paris was colder than Edinburgh and I didn't dress properly. When Caiqian finally led me all the way to the gate (Gate 30), I heard my name on the intercom system at the airport. In French. So then I went up and asked them what the problem was, and they answered. In French. All I understood was that I HAD TO RUN ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE AIRPORT TO GATE 4 AND BACK IN TWENTY MINUTES. I started moving, but then I got lost. I tried asking for directions, but everyone only knew French. I panicked. Eventually I backtracked, made my way to the EasyJet Desk, they printed off the confirmation letter. I ran back as fast as I could. I saw my plane boarding while I was taking off my shoes for security. But I did make it. On the plus side, I gotto board the plane from the ground floor.

Above: Flying Cheap

Paris is the perfect city for Caiqian, but I'd have a hard time living there. The food was great, but the Language barrier and cold was not worth it. That said, I look forward to March. That's when I'll be able to Caiqian for a week.