Faux Parisian

Those who have lived in Paris know: we are endowed with a magical power.

Once you’ve been a Parisian (or a faux Parisian), you automatically have the ability to cast a spell over any Stranger you subsequently encounter, simply by

“Well, when I lived in Paris…”

“I used to live in Paris, so…”

“In Paris (I used to live there)…”

“…reminds me a little bit of Paris, but…”

Yes, you will sound slightly (or completely) pretentious. But more importantly, you will elicit a distinct blend of jealousy and awe from whomever you are addressing, because quite simply, you have lived their dream. In fact, you have lived the dream of millions. At this moment, I fell in love with Paris. Ah, l’amour.

Exploring Paris ..

     The Eiffel Tower is amazing, it’s true. And the Louvre and L’Arc de Triomphe are massive and impressive. All the things you’ve heard about Paris, in fact, are true. It’s a city of immense beauty and wonder and rarely does anything disappoint.But still, many of its charms are in the small nooks and lesser-known areas. If you wander off the beaten path, you’ll be rewarded with small delights like hidden courtyards, homemade ice cream and cute old-timers shuffling down cobblestone streets with their baguettes in one hand and French bulldogs in the other , beautiful French girls and Old People playing Petanque .

Paris Sewer Museum

The curious underground history of keeping Paris clean

"Paris has another Paris under it; a Paris of sewers; which has its streets, its crossings and roads almost the same as the upper view sans traffic

In 1805, before the advent of the modern sewers, Pierre Bruneseau, an adventurer of sorts, decided to map the ancient and aging sewer system. Although even the police were afraid to enter the sewers, Bruneseau did so, and along the way found lost medieval dungeons, jewels and the skeleton of an escaped orangutan. Bruneseau finished his survey in 1812. The ancient system was described by his friend Victor Hugo in Les Miserables as "fetid, wild, fierce . . . nothing could equal the horror of this old, waste crypt, the digestive apparatus of Babylon." Bruneseau was lauded by Paris as "the most intrepid man in your Empire" and "the Christopher Columbus of the cess-pool."

In 1850 Baron Haussmann and engineer EugËne Belgrand designed the modern Paris sewer system. By 1878 the sewer system was over 373 miles long and today the network extends 2,100 kilometers beneath the streets of Paris, or greater than the length from New York to Miami. Hugo said of the new system "The present sewer is a beautiful sewer; the pure style reigns there..."

The Parisian sewers are a kind of mirror to the streets above. All are large enough to accommodate a person and one could rather easily navigate their way around the entirety of Paris through the sewer system. Each sewer "street" has its own blue and white enamel street sign, and each building's outflow is identified by its real street number. The Parisian sewers have always fascinated tourists and the sewers were opened to the public during the World Exposition of 1867. Tourists were originally given tours on a small locomotive drawn wagon, and then, up until the 1970s, in boats, floating down the wide Parisian sewer canals - a sort of Parisian answer to the gondola. Today the Parisian sewer system is closed to all but the 800 egoutiers or sewer workers, with the exception of course of the Les Egouts de Paris, the sewer museum of Paris.

One of the more intriguing displays in the moderately odorous museum is a giant iron ball. The sewers are regularly cleaned using large wooden or metal spheres just smaller than the systemà­s tubular tunnels. The buildup of water pressure behind the balls forces them through the tunnel network until they emerge somewhere downstream pushing a mass of filthy sludge. Keep an eye out for packages whooshing through the "Pneu" or pneumatic tube system that still runs throughout the Parisian sewer.

Resources from:

Paris Sewer Museum
Pont de l'Alma
Place de la Résistance
Paris

It's snowing in Paris

Can't believe it's actually snowing in Paris. It started at 6.30 this evening with a kind of hailstones which settle on the ground like snow, then it rained but later tonight the real snow started. It's so thick on the ground some folks braving the cold are having snow ball fights outside.

It really is nice with everything so white, and the little snow falling from the sky.

It seems that during the night more will come, with up to 15cm of snow on some areas of Paris(especially Alcatel-Villarceaux). Maybe in the morning I’ll be able to make a snowman ,