Bon Jour Paris

For Frank and the boys this is their first trip to Paris. As a seventeen year old I travelled to Paris with my mum as part of an eight month long trip around the world. Paris was one of my favourite cities and I have long dreamt of returning to it.

I have heard that Paris is perhaps not as I remember it and Parisians perhaps not as friendly. In an effort to get up to speed on how Paris may have changed I have been reading Oliver Magney's book, 'Stuff Parisians Like'. The book offers a tongue in cheek look at the life of Parisians. I have discovered that 'le beauf' (pronounced bohf) is the French equivalent of a bogan or red neck and for the Parisien all strangers are essentially beaufs. Beauf can also be applied to non human things that are not good; white socks are quel beauf (luckily, all our white socks turned black when Frank put them in the washing machine). Black is the height of fashion and Parisien's like to wear all black, navy blue is also acceptable. Black's slimming properties are part of the reason for their love of black. Apparently everyone is always on diet and the women always practice moderation when it comes to eating and drinking (doesn't sound like much fun). The exception to the wearing black rule is one's scarf (worn by both men and women). You can use this to express a bit of personality (but not too much unless you are mentally unstable, then it's okay). I am very proud that Frank has gotten into the swing of things and is not only wearing a scarf but also carrying a manbag.

To be cool in Paris, apart from wearing black, Magney says that one should have an iPhone (check), eat sushi (well, Rocco and I do) and wear converse sneakers. Converse sneakers - we won't be wearing those! I guess that makes us le beauf x 4!

It is now our third day in Paris and it is different to how I remember. There is lots of graffiti and litter, particularly on the metro. This morning we went looking for the flea market on the metro and ended up in a ghetto. We left pretty quickly and headed to Montmartre. On the Metro an elderly lady picked up a guitar and burst into song. She had the most amazing voice and Frank and I looked at each other and said, 'this would never happen on a train in Perth'. This has been the magic of Paris; expecting the unexpected! People have mostly been very friendly. I have tried to use the little bit of French I remember from school and Parisians have been very patient with me.

Today is New Year's Eve and tonight we will head to Champs Elysees, which will be closed to traffic, so pedestrians can rule the street. Happy New Year!