More Paris

Lovely spring weather has arrived in Paris coinciding with the weekend and thousands of tourists.  The rest of Europe, including much of France, has arrived.  The streets and restaurants are filled with a variety of languages and accents.  I'm never quite sure what I'm hearing as those bits of my brain which are connected to my ears adjust and readjust trying to make sense of their world.

I discovered the Palais Royal today.  I was looking for a particular restaurant and stumbled upon it, an inner sanctum in one of the busiest parts of town.  The locals and a few tourists were lounging about enjoying some peace and quite (and lunch of course) in the sunshine in this ancient courtyard.

Speaking of lunch, the French are terribly civilized about this meal.  In the States, most days I eat lunch while sitting in front of my computer,continuing to answer email, take phone calls, and conduct meetings.  In France, the world stops at noon and quite often does not resume until two or three in the afternoon.  While I was in Cotignac, the children had two hours for lunch everyday and could take their lunch at home or in the canteen at school.  If you plan to spend your time sightseeing or shopping, you may find businesses and museums closed.  This could be a great frustration.  Later, when you are starving, you may find that the restaurants are closed.  So please take this small bit of advice:  when you are in France and it is noon, stop and eat.  Trust me on this one.  When I get home from France, this might possibly be the thing I miss most of all, the two hour lunch.