Saturday, 23 July 2011

You know you're living in Paris when...



Metro:
·         You can read in a very small space standing up on the metro
·         You see there is no space in a particular metro carriage, so you just barge on anyway (I do this every morning – advantage of being little)
·         You can get on the metro in exactly the right place for the exit at the destination (kerching!)
·         You know when the metro station will require a ticket or pass to get out and you have it ready – unlike the tourist in front! GRR!
·         You have a Navigo (of course, better yet if you didn’t have to pay for it)


Monuments:
·         You see the Eiffel Tower every day just walking to work and you start to take the Parisian attitude towards it (maybe that’s just me though)
·         You use your free entry to museums for going to the toilet somewhere clean
·         The sound of an American makes you cringe (again, probably just me, but I hear them every morning on the RER going to Versailles moaning about how many people are on the train going to work :S hmmm)


Service:
·         You don’t expect any decent service anywhere
·         You hear the word ‘Facebook’ more than ‘svp’ or ‘merci’
·         the wine come in tiny glasses, so it’s better to order the bottle and be done with it (this is general for France, and no, I haven’t been drinking, but mum experienced this one on her first day here)
·         You know people only drink coffee because anything else will cost you five times the amount



Other:
·         You get used to not having an oven and your wardrobe turns into something not only for storing clothes, but also for drying them
·         You no longer pronounce ‘oui’ properly, but it turns into something resembling ‘whey’ (pretty sure this is for most of France though)
·         You know ‘je voudrais...’ is just something they teach you at school, and if you say it you’ll get a strange look
·         You eat most of the baguette whilst walking across the road back home
·         You can almost ignore the sound of the church bells next door (if you want to)



Parisians:
·         Don’t look where they’re going
·         Don’t keep time 
·         Rarely smile

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