re: #880 HoosierHoops

How was paris you stud? Hope you are well!

Paris was pretty damn great. For all our beloved French-bashing, it’s really a fantastic city. Random impressions:

This was my first visit to Paris on which I spent much time around the Champs Elysee. Sure, I had been to the area before, but always tended to eschew it, thinking it’s so… touristy, and I’m just too cool for that (etc.). Well… I can now humbly report that I was wrong for all those years; it’s worth spending time on the CE, for the simple reason that it makes for absolutely superlative people-watching. And by “people”, I mostly mean women, of course. There’s just this constant parade of outlandishly beautiful women… simply breathtaking. Oh, and of course, the physical beauty of the area itself is worth the visit, too.

I never tire of the Ile de la Cite/Ile St. Louis historic center. Yes, it’s full of tourists, too, but there’s a reason people visit. I strongly encourage walking around this area after midnight; it’s a totally different feeling.

Paris is frickkin’ expensive; and hotels are wildly overpriced. To get a room with the creature comforts you’d expect from a good Holiday Inn in the US (a good modern bed, good air conditioning, modern bathroom, etc.) you have to spend at least US$250 a night. Of course, there are “charm” aspects to staying in, say, a 17th century building on Ile St. Louis that are hard to price.

Hmm, what else…