Two days in Paris have turned me into a massive snob- NO, it’s got nothing to do with the french- who were quite nice, by the way, and eveyone simply adored Pickwick (except for a few old fogies- the Gall! – Actually they are the Gauls, but still, The Gall!), its just that now I’m looking at everyone condescendingly, tsk-ing at their french and go about aggravatingly correcting their pronounciations! Yes, I used to go about aggravating correcting speech anyways, but I restricted myself to the english language (occasionally Hindi, when it came to Hubby- who still pronounces ‘Khar’ like a cross between an automobile and a Ludhianvi reminescing about home), but now it’s gone and spilled over to the french language as well. Not that I know French. Far from it. I wouldn’t know it if it jumped up and bit my behind. The only French I was familiar with (apart from the fries) was the high school vareity where all pronounciations had their heads bitten off and spat back in the face of the harassed teacher. So why have I suddenly turned expert? Simple… I have unlocked the key to ALL prononciations french. And I shall divulge this knowledge now. The key lies in Imagining that your mouth is full of marbles. Seven, if you want my opinion. Now try and read what is written, and voila! We have ze perfect accent. It also help if you mumble and speak as if you’re hiding in a closet and you don’t want the psycho with and axe on the other side of the door hearing you. The other things I picked up in Paris- the ability to appear supremly confident, even if you have a toilet seat hanging around your neck ( the way they beg for money here, you’d think they were doing you a favour by taking your money), bomb hoaxes exist in France as well (and this time Pickwick was no where close to the scene), red light districts can peacefully co-exist with places of worship outside of Kolkata, Piped music played on buses is still cheesy, even if it is in French and even a baby’s full-throated wail cannot take away the romance of a night cruise in the Seine. I shall now let you get on with ogling at the photos.
* photographs Courtesy Mr. Sensorcaine – you might know him better as the baa-lamb.
Juggler at the Flea market
Rainy day
night Cruise on The Seine
The light show every hour!
Le D'artagnan. Great Breakfasts.
Notre Dame de Paris
Inside the church
cheesy 'dils' exist even in Paris. :D
View from the first level at Eiffel
Seine from the second level
The monolith
L'Arc De Triomphe
More of L'arc
...and the Eiffle
A rainbow in Paris!
Le basilique du Sacre-Coeur (thanks Brad!)
also Sacre-coeur
and this one too.
Champs- Elysees
L'arc- ceiling details
