Swimmers in the Seine! What's happening?
Views are pretty important to me, so I feel fortunate that a bit of luck combined with a fairly intensive search produced an apartment with a view of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower...well, you do have to step out on the balcony, contort your body a bit to the right and peer through the leaves of my neighbor's annoyingly tall plants to see the Eiffel Tower. But it's there.
So, when the thwap, thwap, thwap of a helicopter jerked me out of my online reverie on Thursday, I was surprised to look out my window and see lots of rescue vehicles, a massive helicopter, police boats and hordes of people swimming in the Seine right below my apartment. My first thought, since my recent posts have been about D-Day and the Allied Invasion of Normandy, is that the dog-toting citizens of the 16th arrondissement were attacking their stalwart neighbors in the 15th district! I imagined nasty clashes involving women wearing diamond rings and the owners of ethnic food stores. But fortunately, it was just a false alarm and life returned to normal after the firemen packed up all of their gear and went home.
Wondering why you shouldn't swim in the Seine? Take a look at this post.
I used to visit my friend Richard who lived in the 6th. He had a German friend who moved to Paris while I was there. That friend's mother came to visit him and told him he had to move. "One does not move to Paris and not have a view of a monument." And she promptly found him a more appropriate room with a view, of the Arc du Triomphe.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I love the 16th. Have you ever read Julian Green's book PARIS? He writes so beautifully of the city. He was an American who moved to Paris and stayed, living in the 16th himself. In the scramble you describe above, I'd go with the ladies wearing diamond rings--nothing more lethal than a dowager protecting her land and rights.
Joseph, Thank you for the laugh-out-loud comment! With hurricane Irene headed towards our children in Boston and our house in Annapolis, I've been following every bit of sobering news about it online. What a relief to laugh today! :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd place my bets on the dowagers in the 16th (my home turf) any day. They're a steely lot! One of their tricks is to have their little dogs tie up your legs like a calf at a rodeo. This usually happens when I'm toting bags home from grocery store and one of the devious little dogs tangles my legs with its leash.
I'm not familiar with Julian Green's book but see that I can order it on Amazon.fr. I will do that immediately. Thanks for the tip and for the much needed laugh!
always glad to accommodate.
ReplyDeleteLet me know how you like the Green. I think I'm going to have to look at it again today, now that I've brought it up.
It's going to take me a bit longer to get a copy of "Paris" because the one that I saw on Amazon.fr is in French. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I get my hands on a copy. There are a few sellers offering used copies in English.
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