Rouen is a fascinating city, and the Notre Dame cathedral is spectacular. Things are cheaper there than in Paris - surprise, surprise. The only real problem with the city is that there's too much tacky Joan of Arc tourist-trap stuff, especially around the site where she was burned. I'll post photos... eventually.
I've started some volunteer work; basically, I go to a school for a few hours on Monday and Thursday evenings and help the kids with English homework. It's difficult for me to communicate with them, but when I can help them, it's really gratifying.
Finally, a few complaints about Paris in general. Well, really, they're just minor frustrations, but anyway:
1. Everything that isn't a bar or restaurant is closed on Sunday. There are exceptions, of course, but don't count on getting much in the way of shopping or necessary errands done then.
2. Even during the week, everything except for bars and restaurants closes too early. By the time I get home from classes on Tuesday (which end at 7:30), all the supermarkets and most of the boulangeries are closed. There are exceptions (more than for rule no. 1), but in general, it's like Sunday by 8 PM or so.
3. For a city Paris's size, the Metro shuts down far too early (around 12:30-1 most nights).
4. Why do so few of the ticket machines in Metro stations accept bills? It's particularly annoying, since whether or not the machine accepts my credit card seems to be decided entirely by random chance.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Thanks for the update. Isn't there some kind of Metro pass (Carte Orange or some other weekly or monthly type) you can get to save money? Or have you gotten one?
Post a Comment