bonjour

after about three weeks in paris - of which admittedly i spent almost a week in prague - i cannot yet say that i have completely acclimated myself in here. some things i am getting used to, but generally speaking everything still feels rather new and i myself feel slightly, if not exactly out of place, at least a bit detached. this is not to say that i don't like it here; it's just the phase of getting accustomed into something you haven't really come across before. it's a bit like starting a new job or changing flats or something alike; in the beginning you are very aware of yourself and your surroundings, but eventually you find yourself being familiar and that certain edge brought about everything being a bit strange is gone.

so what have i learnt about paris during this still relatively short period of time? the first thing that springs to mind is the huge size of it. of course i knew this before, having visited a few times, but still it strikes me as one of the main features. another thing that is large, at least in number, is the amount of tourists - i walked through the louvre and notre dame areas the other day and was indeed reminded of the fact that paris is one of the most visited cities in the world. besides tourists, a thing of excess is cars - the traffic is simply mad (on the other hand, catching the metro during rush hour is not a decision one should make). it also goes without saying that the architecture of the city is quite amazing, and i quite like the worn-out feel many areas have; and i like the fact that there are so many different types of neighbourhoods.

so paris is grandiose in many ways; but then there are the small things, the things i reckon eventually be turn out to be the most important ones. there is the canal that runs next to where i live, and the sunrise that makes everything magical when i run alongside it in the mornings. there's the brilliant system of city bikes that gives one such freedom of movement, and allows for seeing a lot more than you would were you riding in the metro train. there are the parks, and the picturesque small streets, and  the continuous flow of interesting views and smells and noises and what not. and above all there is life, everywhere and all the time; people coming and going, cars honking, children running, music playing, crazy people yelling at pigeons, anything you can imagine and more.

and it can be that there will come a time when all this gets exhausting; but right now i'm very much enjoying it. so hello paris, it's nice to meet you, and i do hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.