People observations
11th December. At last I am back online and can post the previous blog. Again we are on the Thayls, this time travelling from Paris to Amsterdam via Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam. It’s 8.45 am and just coming light as we pull out of Antwerp, Belgium, having caught the train in Paris at 6.25 am. After dinner last night with friends at a lovely little French bistro, we were wide awake at 4.30 am so it was no effort to be up and off on another adventure. We will be back in Paris Sunday afternoon – a chance to explore further.
Some observations of the people of Paris:
The people of Paris are friendly and helpful. This is in stark contrast to my last visit (the northern winter of 2002-2003) where I found the men especially, rude, surly and unhelpful. What has changed? Have they realised the importance of being friendly to tourists? Is it an effect of the recessionary times? Or is it just that I have encountered different people?
The drivers in Paris (and Brussels) are very, very aggressive. It’s like a game of chicken. One can almost hear them shouting inside “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Our taxi driver in Brussels took on buses, other cars and a child on a skateboard. Our taxi driver in Paris also challenged buses, pedestrians on crossings with the Walk signal, and of course other cars. There is this jostling for position and the need to dash into any space before someone else does. Is it a sign of a highly competitive society, I wonder.
The teenage pout seems to be non-existent in Europe and Japan. You know the one. Thirteen or fourteen year old girls in particular who look as if they don’t want to be here (wherever ‘here’ is, especially if accompanied by a parent), that the world owes them something and that life, generally, sucks! Some manage to retain the look for quite a few years but most outgrow it quite quickly. Yet in Tokyo, Brussels and Paris I have observed large groups of children and teens, some on school outings, and not a pout to be seen anywhere. The teens are actually smiling and appear excited by life.
We are now appoaching Rotterdam, Holland.