In 2012, I was lucky enough to spend the month of June in Paris. Every day, I rose from my bed in a rental apartment in the Fifth Arondissement (the neighborhood that contains the Sorbonne) and set out to explore Paris, leaving my husband happily ensconsed in a Parisien café arguing philosophy with one (or two) of his many friends.
Of course, I visited the Jardin des Plantes. Of course, I wended my way through the Jardin du Luxembourg past the Medici fountain. If you have been to Paris, you know how civilized French parks are. They don’t have just park benches in them, the way they do in London. Non! Parisien parcs have round metal tables and elegant chairs all painted a light green, which is somehow the perfect color.
Because I was able to spend a whole month in Paris, I was able to visit some non-touristy areas. For example, I discovered the 73 bus (the soixante-treize in French) that started at the Musee d’Orsay and took you across the Place de la Concorde ~ that frightening mélange of traffic that pours in from every which way, which no pedestrian should attempt to cross ~ to Neuilly.
Neuilly, once a charming village, is now on the outskirts of Paris, on the other side of the Péripherique, another nightmare of traffic if you are driving a car. Neuilly is still charmiing (many rich people live there), but just as Georgetown in Washington DC is spoiled by the tall towers of Rosslyn, so Neuilly is marred by the tall towers of La Défense, a major business district that houses the usual sorts of things, including many insurance companies.
If you are not afraid of speaking French, I can highly recommend spending some time in Paris, just wandering around. You will find many interesting things!
