Anny's Awesome Adventures In France

I attended an interesting presentation at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which is based in Paris. Its World Heritage Center Director, Francesco Bandarin, talked about the work his staff has done around the world preserving cultural and historic sites. Organized by the UC Berkeley Alumni Paris chapter, many Americans attended the event. The evening started with a tour of UNESCO, which was created in 1953. The modern, 50s style building houses many works of art from around the world, with displays changing quite frequently throughout the building. I especially liked the outdoor Japanese Garden, where the beautiful trees and plants were imported from Japan. Bandarin spoke about some of the challenges of preserving (in some cases, restoring) important historical sites. For example, in Bamyan, Afghanistan, the Taliban government blew up ancient buddha stone statues, despite UNESCO's pleas to not destroy them. After the Taliban ignored their please, according to Bandarin, UNESCO decided to restore a couple of the statues, hoping that one day when the country is safe enough for tourists, people can visit the unique place of history. UNESCO approves World Heritage sites based on what the respective country's government nominates. That means some sites are more difficult to preserve because the lack of government support. I'm hoping to accompany UNESCO on one of its missions to a historic site in the coming months. It would be great to document the work they've done and hope to do in the future.

While the U.S. may be focused on Thanksgiving, here in Paris, you can feel the holiday spirit is upon us. Everywhere you look, storefront windows are starting to transform into the holiday spirit, and along major streets and avenues like the Champs-Elysees, city workers have already put up the lights in the trees. I can't wait to see the city of lights look even more spectacular. I hear that Paris is especially charming and magical during the holidays. How can that be? Ce n'est pas possible! This city is already so wonderful. I can't wait! I will upload some pictures soon!

J'adore Paris, but one thing many Americans may have difficulty adjusting to is slow (or lack of) service. For the most part, I think the service in Paris is just fine. But a few times when I've gone to a store to buy something, man, are the lines long and it can easily take 30 minutes of just standing in line to get to the cashier. Today, for example, I was at a furniture accessory store and I bought a pillow. There were three open cashiers and all of them had lines of at least a dozen people and we were all waiting an average of 20 to 30 minutes. In the U.S., if there's a long line, typically an associate will quickly call out for more cashiers. Sure, this may be why Americans might be considered impatient, but I still don't mind. I try to carry a book with me to keep me pre-occupied in case of a long wait. But today, I didn't have a book, so I just watched the other Parisians silently sigh and squirm with impatience. Viva la France! P.S. The picture I posted is from my walk back from the furniture store earlier today. It was a beautiful fall day here in Paris.

Parisians have a stereotype of being rude. The more time I spend here, I don't think this is true at all. I believe the key to living in Paris (or visiting Paris for that matter) is politeness. If you're polite, then you will be treated with politeness as well. The French can be quite formal and if the rules of etiquette aren't followed, then you may be given the aloof French attitude. If you walk into a store, for example, you should always say "Bonjour" during the day, or "Bonsoir" during the evening. If you do it with a smile, then you might get a smile back! And always say "Merci" and "Au revoir" as you leave the store. Even in elevators, strangers will often greet each other, or at least acknowledge one another with a nod, smile or simple hello. If you're American, don't start blabbing in English, assuming they should speak English to you. In French, ask "Vous parlez Anglais", and many people may say "A little bit"-and in fact, they speak English quite well (especially Parisianers). Also, don't speak so loudly or aggressively. Your tone matters and it's a good idea to speak softer so you don't come across too strongly.

I finally got a French cell phone the other day. I had been waiting to get my bank credit cards (still waiting for them!) so I could get a contract for my blackberry, but then realized I may not use my cell phone that much. Getting a pre-paid phone is inexpensive and very easy to do. All I had to do was show them an ID (my student Sorbonne ID was fine), pick out a phone (anywhere from 35 to 100 Euros), and pick a plan. The one big difference about cell phone plans in France is that you get unlimited minutes for IN-coming calls, while your minutes are docked from OUT-going calls. So a typical month might give you 2 hours of talk time, but that's for out-going calls. At first, I didn't realize that, so I thought cell plans in France were really expensive.

Many Parisianers like to leave the city and flock to the countryside for the weekend. On Saturday, one of my local friends took me to Fountainebleu, home to one of France's well-known castles. We stopped by Barbizon, a little town near Fountainebleu and it was darling. I felt like we were on a movie set. People were having lovely lunches with great French food, bread and wine. Our lunch took about three hours and it was great! The small villages are so quaint and quiet. It was a nice get-away from the hustle and bustle of Paris.

Walking around on a Saturday with my sister and look what we come across.. some lovely music. I love it here.