4 ms·

I would rather read what makes Paris different from NYC in your opinion. It would make for a much more interesting comment.

grandalf 17y ago
Ok. I'll mention a few notable things: - People are more formal in the way they conduct themselves. They say "sir" and "maam" all the time to each other and there is generally an attitude of appropriateness and formality that is quite unlike anywhere I've been in the US. - Taxis are mostly Mercedes Benz cars and they are driven by people who don't seem to really care all that much about the money earning aspect of the job. - The cheapest wine in restaurants is usually terrible. In the US it's reliably mediocre but not terrible. The vaklue is in the 6 Euro bottles sold in stores. Those are the most salient differences. It's really hard to think of any. The best part of the trip was near the Sienne when a woman drew her son (who had been asking her questions) near her and asked me what kind of bird it was that was floating nearby. "A swan", I said. "How does he know?" asked the boy. It's great to see someone that young questioning authority.
- menloparkbum 17y ago
  Forgive me if I sound rude, but I have to think you weren't paying very close attention if the quality of cheap wine and the make of taxi were the most salient differences you noticed between Paris and New York. I find the two cities nothing alike and off the top of my head could think of about 40 more salient differences. The most salient being: in one of those cities everyone speaks French, and the other one... they do not.
  - grandalf 17y ago
    well the language thing is kind of obvious, isn't it? There are infinite differences, but the point of my initial remark about similarity to NYC was to highlight an intangible similarity that I noticed. It struck me because of how different the cities are. One reason the wine stood out is b/c I had expected that perhaps a more wine-oriented culture would demand better wine at the bottom tier. This did seem to be true of bottled wine, but not of the watered down stuff served in most of the cafes.
  - yardie 17y ago
    So I guess the some of 40 others are the sun rises 6 hours sooner in Paris, Paris has only one river, the metro doesn't run 24 hours a day, etc. He brought those things up because they were important to him. He didn't say anything about the amount of dog shit on the ground, you can't get anything to eat after 2pm except fastfood, or if you want good coffee go to Starbucks (yes, I said it!).

grandalf 17y ago

Ok. I'll mention a few notable things: - People are more formal in the way they conduct themselves. They say "sir" and "maam" all the time to each other and there is generally an attitude of appropriateness and formality that is quite unlike anywhere I've been in the US. - Taxis are mostly Mercedes Benz cars and they are driven by people who don't seem to really care all that much about the money earning aspect of the job. - The cheapest wine in restaurants is usually terrible. In the US it's reliably mediocre but not terrible. The vaklue is in the 6 Euro bottles sold in stores. Those are the most salient differences. It's really hard to think of any. The best part of the trip was near the Sienne when a woman drew her son (who had been asking her questions) near her and asked me what kind of bird it was that was floating nearby. "A swan", I said. "How does he know?" asked the boy. It's great to see someone that young questioning authority.

menloparkbum 17y ago
Forgive me if I sound rude, but I have to think you weren't paying very close attention if the quality of cheap wine and the make of taxi were the most salient differences you noticed between Paris and New York. I find the two cities nothing alike and off the top of my head could think of about 40 more salient differences. The most salient being: in one of those cities everyone speaks French, and the other one... they do not.
- grandalf 17y ago
  well the language thing is kind of obvious, isn't it? There are infinite differences, but the point of my initial remark about similarity to NYC was to highlight an intangible similarity that I noticed. It struck me because of how different the cities are. One reason the wine stood out is b/c I had expected that perhaps a more wine-oriented culture would demand better wine at the bottom tier. This did seem to be true of bottled wine, but not of the watered down stuff served in most of the cafes.
- yardie 17y ago
  So I guess the some of 40 others are the sun rises 6 hours sooner in Paris, Paris has only one river, the metro doesn't run 24 hours a day, etc. He brought those things up because they were important to him. He didn't say anything about the amount of dog shit on the ground, you can't get anything to eat after 2pm except fastfood, or if you want good coffee go to Starbucks (yes, I said it!).