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A week in Paris
Mar. 29th, 2026 06:31 pmR. and I are back from a week's tourism in Paris. I enjoy how we continue to find ourselves agreeing often: R. certainly sees why I prefer Paris to London, it's so pleasantly walkable. ( I am always happy to go back. )
Being dragged reluctantly into the modern world, I ( tried using public transit via smartphone ticketing. )
For me, Paris tourism is typically some combination of walking and Métro around central Paris visiting various attractions and just taking in the environment. We hadn't prebooked much so we had some freedom to go as our whims and increasingly aching bodies would take us. The weather was generally good, I consider us lucky. We kept sufficiently on the beaten tourist path that I scarcely had to ( attempt to speak French. )
The gardens varied rather. Many of them seemed to be wide, dusty, pale gravel paths, lawns, conical shrubs, cuboid trees, statues, hedges with right angles, etc. We wandered through the Jardin des Plantes which at least had flowers, a variety of rather well-grown ones indeed, though no fewer right angles. I think the Japanese might be rather better at the kind of garden I like.
Paris has a considerable abundance of publically accessible magnificent buildings that I enjoy seeing and being inside. ( I enjoyed a few of the museums. )
In this visit, we did not ( eat out at fancy restaurants. )
Last night's return flight was from Charles de Gaulle into Edinburgh so we took our usual commuting route, the train into Queen Street, as part of our journey back home to Glasgow.
Being dragged reluctantly into the modern world, I ( tried using public transit via smartphone ticketing. )
For me, Paris tourism is typically some combination of walking and Métro around central Paris visiting various attractions and just taking in the environment. We hadn't prebooked much so we had some freedom to go as our whims and increasingly aching bodies would take us. The weather was generally good, I consider us lucky. We kept sufficiently on the beaten tourist path that I scarcely had to ( attempt to speak French. )
The gardens varied rather. Many of them seemed to be wide, dusty, pale gravel paths, lawns, conical shrubs, cuboid trees, statues, hedges with right angles, etc. We wandered through the Jardin des Plantes which at least had flowers, a variety of rather well-grown ones indeed, though no fewer right angles. I think the Japanese might be rather better at the kind of garden I like.
Paris has a considerable abundance of publically accessible magnificent buildings that I enjoy seeing and being inside. ( I enjoyed a few of the museums. )
In this visit, we did not ( eat out at fancy restaurants. )
Last night's return flight was from Charles de Gaulle into Edinburgh so we took our usual commuting route, the train into Queen Street, as part of our journey back home to Glasgow.
