Stuff about Paris

It's been eight years since my last visit to this lovely city and this time around I've had some time to wander and ramble a bit (in between writing sessions, of course, since I am here to work, after all).Some thoughts.1. I think you'd have to put in a serious, all-out effort to find a bad meal here. One day, in an attempt to do just that, I ran out to the dodgiest-looking corner convenience store in the area and bought some pre-packaged ham (jambon) then used it to make a sandwich (sandwich) with a bit of baguette (baguette) left over from breakfast. It was the best gosh-darned ham sandwich I've ever eaten.2. People really are thin here. Not too thin, not unattractively thin, just, you know, slim. You'll see the odd larger person here and there, but, over all, it's a skinny city. And not a low-fat offering in sight, which confirms my belief that diet food is a conspiracy to keep people fat.3. Modernism? Not so much. Every once in a while, crammed between two stunningly gorgeous Beaux-Arts masterpieces of architecture, you'll see a stark modern building. It never works. The English are fantastic at marrying modernism with older architectural styles. In Paris, it just looks out of place. Mercifully, there are few modern buildings. Friends in the city confirm that this discomfort with modernism extends to the broader culture as well, which they described as lacking an edge. I can't confirm that myself just yet, as wandering around in search of bad jambon and an English-to-French power adaptor (adaptator) doesn't make you an expert on a city's broader culture.4. Wallpaper rocks! I know I've covered this topic before, but you seriously would not believe the adorableness of our hotel room thanks in large part to the wallpaper (featured behind me in the photo above). I swear to god in my next apartment, every flat surface is going to be covered in the stuff.That's it for now. I realize it's not exactly a comprehensive picture of the city. But I have to get back to Novel Number Three. Twenty-thousand words and counting!