While waiting in Amsterdam for the connection to De Gaulle I had a Caprese Panini with an ice-cold Heineken on draft in a café where everyone spoke English. I exchanged $440 dollars for 290 Euros, and was happy to see the Euro had fallen @1.66.
I arrived in Paris, retrieved my bag from baggage claim and found the RER B line without a blip. Once again I thanked the Universe for allowing me the good sense to leave the monster bag at home. The ride into the city from the airport is about l.5 hours and can be done by taking the RER B train and changing to the Metro. In the crowd the language was spoken so quickly that comprehension of any dialogue was impossible. I was content to be a voyeur in the sea of oblivion. There is a certain amount of freedom associated with being separate but still present, and not really minding it. The French language was music to my ears whether I understood it or not.
The train stopped directly across the street from the apartment. On the walk over I saw a bottle of wine at the Marché Franprix for 4.05 – conversion? $6.72. Not bad for a 2008 local Bordeaux. Camembert cheese is 2.94 = $4.88, and a fresh baguette from the neighborhood bakery is 1.05 or $1.74. Some things are cheaper in Paris. And the quality, well it’s amazing.
After returning from the South of France last April I was very excited over Camembert and immediately went to the local grocery in Homer to buy it. Unfortunately the taste of what I bought was nothing like what I remembered in Aix-en-Provence. The French have the market on cheese and apparently the richness, creaminess, and texture cannot be duplicated.
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