Au revoir, Paris!

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We're on our last day in Paris, and the stay has - once again - been a gorgeous experience.


Friends, who haven't visited the city for a while, have asked us about how it is evolving.

For some, Paris is probably now synonymous with armed police surveillance and  dread of terrorist attacks, of migrants camping in the streets, of piles of filth and garbage, of Paris, as one put it, being turned into a sh*thole!

OK. There ARE people sleeping on benches or wrapped in cardboard boxes, but as far as we can see, most of them are not African migrants or fugitives. Most seem to be ethnic French, who have fallen through the security net of the welfare state, and even though the street people are far too many, the wast tent camps, which we, just last year, saw erected below the bridges along the Seine have now disappeared.

There ARE complaints about people pissing in the streets (and even more complaints about the many, quite hideous 'standing pissoirs' which are being placed all over the city by the municipality), but the men, we see pissing, are not the homeless, but hippy youngsters, hanging out with friends in  parks or along the Canal Saint Martin.

There ARE a lot of  police officers, and some are even heavily armed, but the force is not nearly as visible as we remember from other stays. And far more important: We feel completely safe, walking the streets, mingling with the French in all parts of the city within the Périphérique (the Parisian beltway)

After having stayed in the city of cities for yet another month, we can say, as Henri 4 did 450 years ago: "Paris vaut bien une messe"

Do come and see for yourself - as soon as possible!


Our favorite 'secret' places:


Michael has made a  map of some of our favorite 'secret' places , which are hidden in plain sight all over Paris.

The map will be expanding during the coming weeks. Michael has found a lot of places, which he wants to put in, when ever he gets the time. The ones on the map just  now, are just the results of his explorations in the last couple of days!

How to use:

Just install the app 'Google Map' on your phone and when next time  you walk the streets of Paris, open the link below on your phone. It now shows you the places in your vicinity, which we find worth visiting.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1UhJltExTOw_5GI7wsBffDQPNnBXykptr&hl=sharing










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