Paris in December

I took the train from Troyes to Paris on December 28th and after going the wrong way on the subway once, found my hotel at about 4 p.m.  Nice, modern, clean hotel not far from the city center.  I wanted to go Karaoke singing and got directions from the pretty hotel clerk.  I got back on the subway and then walked several blocks to the karaoke bar, but apparently it had been closed for several months.  I went to another bar and asked directions to another karaoke bar on my list.  Now that I had mastered the subway system, it was no problem switching lines and getting to my new destination.  A TripAdvisor review said this second bar is a local dive, and it was true.  About three patrons in the bar were watching sports on TV, no bar tender around, and it was a very tired smelly environment.  I gave it a pass and looked at some restaurants on the way back to the subway, but none appealed to me.  I was on   Boulevard de la Bastille and there was a protest going on with about 100 marchers.  Of course I could not understand what they were chanting, but the photo of a prominent woman dissentient from another country was a clue.  So I had dinner at my hotel.

On Sunday I wandered around Paris via the subway and walking.  The streets and sidewalks were crowded with Parisians enjoying a sunny Sunday.This was my third time in Paris, so I did not feel the need to visit all the tourist spots, but I could not resist seeing the Eifel Tower again.  Across the Seine there was a huge Christmas adnarket with a couple of hundred vendor booths, and thousands of people.  I wanted to go salsa dancing and took the metro to a restaurant named "Barrio Latino."  I got there about about 1 and was told the intermediate lesson started at 2.  They were serving Sunday brunch for 36 euros (about $50), which was more than I wanted to pay.  Also, I wanted to eat at a sidewalk cafe and watch the people.  So I walked back to Bastille square and sat at a table right in front.  I had an excellent lunch of plank fish, fresh vegetables, bread, white wine, and a cappuccino.  All for only 38 euros.  So much for trying to save money on lunch!  Of course lunch took about 90 minutes and when I got back to Barrio Latino, the lesson was half over.   I watched the last half and stayed with the intent of dancing, but when I put on my dancing shoes, my left toe hurt.  Also, I had not salsa danced since before my operation on October 31st, so I decided to just watch the dancing and enjoy the music.  I went to the third karaoke bar on my list, but it had also been closed for some time.  I will post on TripAdvisor.  Karaoke does not seem popular in Paris.  They do not know what they are missing by not providing me a venue …or maybe they heard I was coming!

I love the cosmopolitan feeling of Paris and contrary to popular belief; I was treated with courtesy everywhere in the city.  One young lady at the information booth at the metro station gave me directions on how to get on the right subway, and when I stood there looking at my map, she took pity on me, came out of her booth and pointed me in the right direction with explicit instructions.  Pickpockets are a big problem in Paris, as they are in many big cities in Europe.  There are signs in all the subway stations and in the hotel elevators warning on how the pickpockets operate.  On Monday morning I met a lady at breakfast that had her purse stolen the day before from her backpack.  She had taken it out of the backpack in the subway station and then put it back in again.   I was very careful and also carried a whistle on a strap attached to my daypack.   I never took my wallet out of my inner jacket pocket in public and did not stand in the subway stations looking at maps. 

Tuesday afternoon I headed for the airport to catch my flight to Rio de Janeiro, via Rome.  It was raining hard in Paris.  Time to fly into summer in Brazil, on December 31st.