An Australian, three Ameri-Australianos, and an American in Paris

Jeez-Louise, they speak different language here! Though we all have a little French (j'ai une crayon rouge), it's a tough adjustment. Philip has been hitting his stride (he has more than a little French having lived here for 3 years during his formative teen years), but the rest of us are still a little shy about communicating en francais. Our hotel overlooks the corner of Rue des Pyramides and Rue St. Honore with a back view of Eglise Saint Roch, a 17th century church (that has some later Napoleonic significance that would be clearer if I read French a bit better). We walk past restaurants with scrumdillyicious food and shops with divine clothes every 10 steps or so--and then there are the lovely juliet balconies on all the buildings. Ooo la la! Quelle cite! C'est formidable! For whatever reason (language barrier, I'm hoping), nobody from these parts really has much interest in getting to know us so far--the people we end up talking with are inevitably Australians and Americans (two Sydneysiders in the queue for the Eiffel Tower and a table full of Americans next to us at dinner tonight from, where else?--Brooklyn). Strolling through the city, though, I feel like I'm in a good caper movie with the buzzing of motor scooters, boats on the river and random cobbled side streets. As you can see from the photos here, the French like to do things on a grand scale--as Philip pointed out today there are massive monuments in this town. We have huge monuments in DC, of course, but who designed that town? A Frenchman! Our biggest monument in NYC? A gift from the French! Even Napoleon's tomb is gargantuan (unlike, apparently, the man himself). His bones must be rattling away in that thing. The queues are massive as well, and unlike in England, here there are no shorter lines just around the corner. Queuing is a rite of passage, a kind of hazing in Paris. We are eating ourselves silly but enjoying every bite (and drop of champagne!). And we are finally enjoying some summer-like weather. Break out le soleil-screen.