A PASSANGER'S DAIRY
Every passenger has a story:
À Paris, des visiteurs vous êtes pardonné pour parler Français cassé.
(In Paris, visitors are forgiven for speaking broken french )
Sometimes finding a taxi in Paris can be challenging, especially, during rush hour, not to mention finding a friendly one and if you can find a friendly one you've won a lottery. Paris taxi drivers frequently do not feel obliged to stop for you (even if they don´t have a passenger). When you do get them to stop, if your destination doesn´t appeal to the driver, he will tell you so and drive off. One can never hail down a taxi when there is a taxi stand several meters away even if there is one available right in front of you. It is the law in Paris....taxi drivers are actually not allowed to stop if there is a taxi stand near by.
I have heard and read stories of people having bad encounters with cab drivers. I never really had a big problem with cab drivers in Paris until one unpleasant incident in November last year. Stef and I had to run some last minute errands and time was of the essence as we had to be at Charles De Gaulle airport in time for our flight.
We got into a cab from Le Bon Marche with a driver who likely couldn't speak English. When we arrived at our destination at Rue De Cirque, I asked if I could leave the taxi while Stef took care of the payment. To my dismay, I found the doors locked. He raised his voice, "À moins que vous payiez l'euro 10, les portes resteront verrouillées " (unless I paid the Euro10, the doors would remain locked). Finally when the payment was made, he got out of the cab and opened the door from the outside while rambling on like a bad thunderstorm. There might have been a miscommunication but surely his lack of respect was totally unnecessary. Yes, there are some nasty people around in Paris but I have yet to visit any place in the world where there are no nasty people.
Now that I have been visiting Paris on a regular basis, I have begun to realize that even the smallest attempt to speak a little french take you a long way. The French actually appreciate those who make some effort to speak French. They will automatically revert to English to converse once they detect an accent.
2 days ago - Rue St. Honore
It was lightly snowing as Stef and I walked down the Street of Rue St. Dominic towards the Latour Marboug taxi stand.
We got into a taxi and was greeted by one of the nicest drivers I have come across in Paris. He even spoke English fluently, with an American accent, which aroused my curiosity as to whether he was a Parisian. He proudly replied that he had studied some English at school but be learnt most of his English from his American passengers while working as a cab driver.
I asked my nice cab driver to take me to Hotel Coste but I was not sure if the address was Faubourg Saint Honore or Rue St. Honore even though I had walked the streets countless times before. He very kindly explained to me in detail: From arrondissement 7 get across the bridge to the 8th, as you approach the first traffic light on Rue Royale (you'll see the church Madeleine ahead of you), the street on the left is Faubourg St. Honore and the street on the right is Rue du Faubourg St. Honore. I was taken by his patience and helpfulness.
When he stopped to let us alight, he politely said, "Have a nice day". In that instant, I said to myself, one bad apple does not spoil the barrel....oops, let me rephrase that. A few bad apples does not spoil the whole bunch! My next mission is to apprenez la langue francaise. (learn french)......I think.
A CUSTOMER'S DAIRY
Hotel Coste
A brief description: I like to show you some pictures but....story to follow about my camera if you read on.
Situated right in the heart of the Rue St Honore fashion district, is the Baroque styled decor five star hotel, bar and lounge. Often frequented by celebrities, it is certainly a place for people to be seen. Be prepared to part with your cash though.
Comments:
. Doormen -polite
. Receptionist - comme si comme sa.
Someone once said to me, if you are amongst the 'aristocrats', behave like one......For those 'wanna be's ', show them their place. Well, quite honestly, I don't think I can live my life contrary to my conscience.
. Waiter - Model- like quality but with a slight attitude problem. Perhaps try to parley francais and you may just find that the French are much nicer than what everyone thinks.
. Menu is quite good. Snails and duck are among the favorites.
. Service a wee tad slow. If you have a tight schedule, try to request for your bill ahead of time.
Conclusion:
I do like the food, the deco and ambience especially the courtyard....( I was immersed into another era). Can't say the same about the service though.
Faux fur is the alternative
After lunch, our curiosity took us to a fur shop nearby. We were being served by a french lady, attendant who might I add, is supposedly a guru of style and fashion, so she claims.
"Madame, there is no pret a porter sizing here" she says. So be warned not to ask for your supposed size (e.g.. 34, 38, 40 etc) if you want to appear posh!
As far as I can see, almost everything looked oversized on Stef's petite frame. In response to this, the attendant was quick to remind us that there are girls who are even smaller in Paris!!!
Well in all fairness , there was this one coat I thought looked really beautiful. It was a reversible, knee length, golden brown sable fur. Of course, she had to ask me if I knew what a sable is? I am like..... Duh!!!!!
She went on to say that all the fur on one end of the rack (Rack A) cost nothing less than Euro40,000. At that point, Stef said, "But I am a student". She replied with sacasm in her voice, "The cutting is perfect. It is for keeps. Besides you would want to receive a special gift, would you not? You see this other one Rack B (cheaper) is not fashionable for a young girl such as yourself".
I was speechless and thought to myself why would a student or anyone want a Euro 70,000 real fur as a special gift?
Needless to say, the whole episode was a case of the ' Pretty woman' experience.
Where are my gloves?
When we left the fur shop, it was freezing which prompted me to look for my gloves in my handbag only to find that they were gone! So I decided to see if I had dropped them at the the fur shop. Trust me when I say the lady attendant was not impressed. She turned over the little rug which is by the sofa to show me that nothing was there. I apologized and quickly headed back to Hotel Coste to check with the receptionist and also the waitress who served us. Sad to say, neither bothered to help me look for my gloves.
Having gloves is like carrying an umbrella....more often than not, they'll leave you....I will now buy only cheap ones!!
AlexanderMcQueen
Our next stop was Galeries Lafayette.
Stef received a message on her blackberry saying that one of my favorite fashion designers, Alexander McQueen, had just passed away that morning. What shocking piece of news for the world. Alexander McQueen is arguably one of the best though some would say that his clothes are not women friendly. But he helped put British designers on the map!!! I decided to look at his collection of shoes and accessories at the basement and was served by a very nice salesperson who very politely broke the unfortunate news. Soooooooo sad.
Next, we went to Printemps where I found a pair of the coolest Victoria Beckham sunglasses. Then we decided to have a tea break at Laduree. It was decorated with the 'Alice in Wonderland tea party" theme which included pictures, books, tea cups and pots etc. Can't wait to watch the movie in 3D!
Where can my Leica be?
Finally, off to do my tax refund on the 2nd floor, which is where I think I may have left my new Leica camera or could it be at Balenciaga next to the tax refund area or perhaps in the taxi? Cry!!!!!
I shall find out on Monday. Please kind people, if you find my camera, please keep it at ' Lost and Found' for me. Much gratitude.
This sure has been one strange day.
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