My first impression of Paris

When I was thinking of the title for this blog, I thought it would be cool to use a Telugu title. With my limited Telugu vocabulary I figured it must be 'Paris lo naa toli anubhavam'. After giving the title I realized it might mean something else so I gave it the english title. Anyway lets get to the core of the blog.

Sooo many things have happending in the past four days from the moment I left home for the airport in Philadelphia to the first weekend in Paris (I arrived here on Tuesday). The best thing of all the events that occured in past four days is all of them were very pleasant.

Let me begin with the farewell at the Philadelphia airport. Santi, Shravan, Mounica and Prashanth were there to give me the sendoff. I should say I have always been very lucky with friends, and these were my nicest friends. It was a strange feeling leaving them after being with them for soo long (almost 4 years now). I wanted to give everybody a hug but for some reason I didnt. Just before I left for my gate Shravan surprised me with a gift: an ipod nano. I was very happy as I didnt expect it. At 6:00 pm I left for my gate (my flight was at 7). However the flight did not take off until 8:00 pm.

I was flying to Paris by AirFrance. The flight was new and good. I got a glimpse of what I had to face in France within 2 hours of boarding the flight. When it was time to serve the dinner, I was told that there was no vegetarian option. The airhostess suggested I eat things that are vegetarian and leave the non-veg part out. Any case it wasnt too bad. I ate things like yogurt, bread, fruit pieces and a cake. I got some sleep after dinner and since we started late we arrived in Paris 2 hours late. To my pleasant surprise the immigration was very simple, and quick. In fact there were no customs forms to fill out or customs check. Within 10 minutes of landed had finished both picking up my bagage and getting throught the immigration. My officemate Kostas Danas was supposed to come to the airport to pick me up. I was wondering if he knew of the late arrival of flight. I luckily found a telephone that operates with coins (Euro coins ofcourse, which I happened to have a few) and called him to find out if he was near. Luckily he enquired about the late arrival and was in the airport just at the same time as the flight arrived.

I noticed something were strange about the paris airport. There were no flat surfaces anywhere (ofcourse except the floor): the roof, the pillars and anything and everything you see had a curved surface. It was very pretty. Once I met Kostas we started out for the place I was to stay in. The baggage was very heavy (2 pieces nearly 30 kgs each) and I could not have made it anywhere without him. I was starting to get a feel for France. Anywhere I see in the airport I would see hoardings in French. But since it is the airport at many places I would also see the English translations. My practise sessions (for French) started right from the airport (with billets for tickets). After a 1.5 hours of traveling by train and taxi we finally arrived at the hostel. The first time I realized I need to be with someone to do anything atleast for first few weeks was when we engaged a taxi. I realized the French I knew was little and I need to learn a lot before I can really talk to somebody and understand what they are saying.

In the hostel after some paperwork (which took like an hour) I was given a small room. I had a table, tablelamp, a small bed, some cupboards and a washbasin. The view from the room was very pretty. With a green garden, big trees and a lot of flowering plants.


There were some 20 people living on each floor and we had to share a set of 3 bath rooms and a kitchen. Luckily the kitchen and bathrooms were in decently good condition.

Sorry it took me soo long to get to interesting details about France and French people. Since Paris is very north in terms of lattitudes right now the SUN SETS here AT 10:30 pm. The photos I am attaching here were in fact taken at 9:30 in the evening. A thing that stood out in comparison to US was I didnt see a single policeman in a weeks period. The crime rate is very low and it is safe to walk around even with a lot of cash on you at any time of the day. French people love plants, trees and greenary in general and here are a few examples.





There most favorite plant being the roses. I see roses in houses, streets, parks, almost everywhere.



The streets are pretty narrow but thats really a problem as most people commute by train or bus.



Now to the university I am working at: Ecole Polytechnique. One interesting fact about the university is, it is on a hill top. Consequently we need to take some 300 odd steps every morning. It is quite a walk. We are dog tired by the time we are in office.

My biggest problem yet has been with food and language. People here love meat and alcohol. They almost have nothing to offer for vegetarians except things like salad, yogurt, fruits and deserts. Somtimes there is pasta or french fries but with no veggie sause. I have been stuffing my stomach with all these. It doesnt complain but isnt too happy either. One thing that is really good about french cuisine is their deserts. They make awesome deserts. Thats the saving grace right now. THe combination of a lean diet and walking has already made me a little thinner :-). I like that.

There is a nice restaurant in the university where we have our lunch and sometimes dinner too. This is like our canteen. Food is pretty cheap here. Even after taking a lot of stuff it just costs 3 or 4 Euros. However food outside is pretty expensive. Also coffee is very cheap and good here. Can you believe it, It costs like 35 cents to buy a coffee even in the cafe shop inside the university.

On saturday I got the first opportunity to visit Paris. I went with Oscar. But since It was raining we had dinner, watched a movie and returned back.

Overall the first four days here have been pretty good. There is no phone or internet in the hostel so I havent been able to talk to anybody. I called home just today from the office. Why today and not before? Well we are not supposed to use skype or similar things here (defense lab fundaes) so I am kind of stuck on communication front.

Anyhow guys, I think this has already become pretty long. I hope to add more interesting things in future. Best of luck to you guys and me as well.

take care,
Love you,
Vikranth.