Friday, June 22, 2007

Dekho Dekho Dekhooooo an Evening in....

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


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh! Thanks for writing back to me - about your French Travels!!! Grrrr...

Anonymous said...

Oye! Did you go the Painters' Hub behind the Basilica? And then think about me - coz' I also sat there! :D

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Nice pics, I envy your weekend BUT - the Eiffel is not a monolith by any stretch of the imagination.

J.A.P.

Unknown said...

Brad: sorry- didn't know i was rubbing salt in your wounds. Did I tell you about my aunt in Canada? :D
And yes, we did. theer were painter practically everywhere, though. All along the banks of Seine.

JAP: Apologies. By monolith, I didn't mean single-stoned. I meant to convey its Uniform, massive, inflexible character. In that sense, the imaginations does not need to be stetched at all to call it that.

Anonymous said...

Until now, I was wishing nobody goes through what I am going through. But I have re-considered my wish; and you can kiss goodbye to any of my efforts to getting you a job. Ciao. X-(

Varatanu said...

isnt it jus splendid... a pahreeh!

La vida Loca said...

Eye is jealous. I want to go Pariss.

photos very nice.

Unknown said...

brad too late! once maled, it cannot be erased! HA!

ruch: oui, mais oui!

loca: come to london...
Paris is just hop skip and jump away!

Rajesh Rajoo said...

ayya! paris wonly hope skip jemp away? i likes. ewe note going louvre?

La vida Loca said...

OOhhhhh dont tempt me..might just take you up on that!!

Anonymous said...

ROFL. Well written!

I thought the way to pronounce French is to stick your lips outward as much as possible and then speak. I am convinced that is the reason French chicks look cute not because of French.

Unknown said...

Twisted: thanks!the pout works only with the french women. if i triedit i look like an exasperated goldfish.