Paris- Greece: P1 2010

This might be under the category of our own first yup lots planning done by my other half in terms of booking and other things by me, still touristic kind , but to see things one has to put in plenty leg work, that kind of trip. More details not necessary on how things came about or what went on or for that matter anything... 

I feel like I should not have posted some things I wrote that time on this blog, like some wise people will do but it was under the diary of impressions , hence had to mention what good , bad , wrong , right what all I noted. Skip it , ignore it, don't read it ... It was just what i wrote that's it. Some comedy things even I feel like laughing now :)

Paris: ( from notes taken that time)

Given feedback from many people a general impression was that French people are rude and  non-
supportive etc. So initial expectations were very low and this being the first stop  was
hoping for something different to happen. Landed on airport & rented a cab. Notre Dame was walking distance from this place. Later turned out to be nice location, easily accessible to majority of places.

Cab driver left us on the street parallel to our hotel & it took little asking around to figure out the place. Once inside all the impressions were proved wrong. Sometimes U think why did I believe
in people & their views about the place. The staff was so dam friendly & ask them same thing 10 times they had equal amount of enthusiasm each time. Wow one hurdle down. Atleast we will not get lost
& someone can understand English & reply too. Now after my many travels this is very laughable thing :)

Eating in french bakery is a neat experience ( near louvre nice small place) Nothing is oversized like U might find in any American place, Croissants were of the size they are supposed to be, coffee too.
Don't know why everything in USA is so huge & large (all Indians after coming here would say even vegetables they feel are huge in america). Chocolate croissants were too good. Most people were very punctual in having morning breakfast, even on Sundays.

There were many early risers apart from tourists visiting bakery. ( The cook i rem was wearing the same hat white one ) One most noticiable thing was Sunday the government sends trucks to
wash the streets. Interesting .... They were like our garbage trucks. One more interesting thing was most of the individuals were washing their garbage containers too. No wonder things looked clean and neat.
and non smelly. Nice habit I guess. Most of the times U would notice small alleys exactly like U might find in India being kept spotless. ( well I think when all touristic things open kinda late
and U have plenty time while eating u tend to notice things which U might not otherwise, at least its true for me)

Wished we could only stop one thing in India, no spitting & throwing things out on roads. WOW that would be a peaceful day in every individuals life. Probably that was the most noted thing for me to start my impression of Europe among stone buildings & cobbled roads.

The railway system was easy to go around . For Bombay person, no worries at all. ( one get tickets in Bigelette shops)

Foodwise, desserts were nice, anything in bakery would be cool, pasta awesome fresh ( later i might go for italian one more ) They had fast food centres for pasta making . Just get in line
tell them which sauce U want , they cook pasta infront of you & add sauce & U are ready to go ( aldante it is ,, for indians its little less cooked but tasted nice, took pesto and tomato)
Crepe are other most popular & go to thing. One missed thing is Variety of breads .... well after travelling to some places in europe now can say like breads better there. May be because its a primary food , like variety of rotis in India. Even here I like artisan breads really good so ...) (a common ref. would be india as I am born and brought up there, so it comes natural ...)

Somehow I felt french people walk pretty fast & really walk long distances. In heels too. That might be the reason for their slim trim sizes. Fashion sense is most noticiable, even emphasis on how to look good at any age felt more. People took care of themselves. Hmm no wonder the elevators are really small & rooms too. (Even in hotels one can find tables kind of cozy and nearby). The elevators are usually so small that only one small bag & really fit person can go in it at one time. (Especially in old buildings , now with modernization things in other hotels are diff to cater to everyones needs.) on similar notes one can find since I have seen some forts in India, the doors used to be small and for tall individual one has to bend down and go inside.

Bacchi was very popular game in the gardens ,like "gotya (kanche) " kind ...
Among some of the hilarious moments were when i tried to speak french, well had pocket book with me indeed. But to let u know that helped a lot. Easy translations & not too much asking around. :)

There is a lot to see but enjoying what U see is always more important for us . While doing that if U miss location or two , it doesn't matter as much , at least U have satisfaction of being present there at that moment to soak in the surroundings , just watching people, locals, shops, interesting things. It's fun to re-live those moments & get some sense, same feel after watching your trip pictures.

Sometimes U wish , U wish for it to become cloudy, rainy and get that real feel for the place. Siene river, the beauty around, stone buildings, take U to that era U wished to visit at least once. During your Europe vacation it should rain atleast once. The magic of the place suddenly changes. It feels really great!! We luckily got those opportunities during our visit.

Bye Bye Paris ..
Hoping to visit France again.. Yes, did get a chance to re-visit when did TMB trek in later years and some towns, it was beautiful. (Annecy, nice, monaco, montecarlo, mercantour national park, lyon ..)

Some glimpses :
Post some years TMB trek sometowns glimses

Paris- Greece: P2 2010

Greece:- ( in continuation ....)

Entered Athens and the first breath of warm air felt really welcoming. Nice greek songs were playing in taxi radio. Sometimes even if one doesn't know the language still one can like & understand the music. Our taxi driver was a girl. I was totally impressed by her attitude, behavior, respect for her profession. She was very well dressed & really enjoyed sharing beauty of the place she lives in. One could see the pride she felt.

The trains, people, noise, dogs & cats on the street, hotels open till late night, generally greeks eat food kind late after 9 ( just like india) 

One of the best part of travelling , riding metro or driving, was roads were fabulously maintained in nooks and corners. For places where maintainance was going on, they had toll booths.
The remote places with few people living have best quality of roads, the infrastructure was great. Main land and Peloponnese regions are filled with many ghats, but at every corner one would find gas station and cantin to eat small snack.

One best ( kind of diff) part to notice  was many girls were taxi and truck drivers & they were equally respected. Most of the jobs were felt to be on construction front & rest on petrol pumps, tourist shops,
tourist places. Looked like it was holiday time for schools as most of the kids were working in Pizza shops, museums etc.One of the hilarious experience was discovering there is no connection between what we call"hummas" in USA , no one knew the word. For vegetarians like all places many options " pizza, spaghetti Napolitano, lima beans, greek salad, stuffed peppers, cabbage salad, stuffed tomato with rice, french fires, onion rings, sweets, Baklava (Katz bakery most noted for me) ,cakes etc ...

Country has abundance of olive farming, oranges, melons ,apricots, grapes. Valleys and fields & scapes are beautiful. Sometimes when U are not used to that laid back life style we as an outsider tend to wonder "what is life there?" From our visual perception everyone is smoking , eating drinking coffee, felt like as if everyone was on permanent break, vacation. Especially for city person its a common perception.

One of the best ways the city has kept its look beautiful is the use of fragrant plants, They tend to bloom

in summers or hot seasons like in India too. In reality these simple things can really make your walks so pleasant inspite of heat. Since it was flowering season, the boganvelia, terda, sayli, mogra, roses all plants were in full bloom. Smells nice.

Islands are even more beautiful, just went to Hydra. people soaking in sunlight & taking a dip in the water.... Some islands don't allow cars.. so nice.. Cobbled roads with small shops & houses keep the village look really welcoming. Every household has a cat, they all gather when U eat in restaurants like people their life is very relaxed too.

People were very helpful and nice to talk to.It was only once we really got lost while driving in ghats &

what U would see there was only Sheppard's. Kind of very late in the evening and had lot of mileage driving wise & other wise  too , so tempers high inside and temperatures outside (we all experience them :) ). Even thought the individual didn't have much clue in English, he could direct and we could ask and tell U where U were. At some restaurants they would sit with U to know what U want to eat & make something spicy if U need it. I guess what it takes to make something worth while is a warm smile & they had plenty of it.

Since some things were going on that time around, it was common topic of discussion amongst locals and tourists. Current state of country's economy...
We as an outsider have different ideas from media of some kind but I like the answer given  by an individual to someone "we can sit & cry , but how would it help us?? Things will get better".

It was a nice experience deciding to visit "Santorini and mykonos" later .. Especially after watching movie "Mama Mia"  Listening to "Abba " songs which i have been since college times.

 

 Paris Greece- P2 2010