Impression Paris

We weren't sure what to expect of Paris, because we've alternately read (and heard) that Paris is one of the most interesting cities to visit, at the same time it's also one of the most over-rated.  And I've read many articles that Europe is currently overrun with many more tourists than usual and France is even considering limiting tourism!

For the most part we haven't experienced that.  Other than a few sites - the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle and Sacré-Cœur, where the air was so thick with tourists you could hardly breathe - Paris has been great.  There are lots of tourists for sure, but not more than you would expect, and certainly not more than the city can handle.  We haven't been to the Eiffel Tower yet, or the Arc de Triomphe (we're going to cover those in a walking tour on Monday), and I expect the Tour de France finale will be a gong show, but so far the level of tourism in Paris has been a pleasant surprise.

I've also read that the garbage strike is still on and the city is overrun with garbage!  Something we also haven't seen.  According to our guide from our walking tour a couple of days ago, there are two types of garbage service in Paris - municipal and private - and it's the municipal service that's on strike.  I guess our area (and every area we've walked so far) is covered by the private service, because we've seen no issues with garbage at all.

On the topic of garbage, the service doesn't come house-to-house like in North America, rather you drop off your garbage and recycling at communal neighbourhood bins, and then the trucks just pickup from these common bins.

Here is Sonya in Bonneville sorting glass from the rest of our recycling.

Each bin sits on top of a giant cube which is underground, and the truck lifts up the whole contraption by the little metal connectors protruding out the top of the bin.  Fascinating to watch!  (I thought so Sonya wasn't so interested.)

Two other things we haven't experienced are the riots (I haven't read anything in the news recently so they may have dies down for awhile, and I think they never made it into any of the tourist districts anyways) and the famous European Heat Wave.  We had one day in Bonneville where the temp was up to 36C, and many days where it is hot (but not HOT), but here in Paris it is very pleasant.  16 or 17C in the mornings and evenings, and it gets up to the high 20's during the day.

This afternoon (Saturday) I'm going to see the Catacombs (most useful google review - "Have you ever been concerned that your underground visit will have insufficient bones?") and Sonya is going shoe shopping.