Other Parisian Observations

-Frenchies now wear jeans. when here in 2000 & 2001, you could pin point Americans from blocks away because they were wearing jeans. Now, about 1/3 the population is in them. (and there are far fewer Americans than during the dot-com crazed early 00's)

-LOTS more cameras and much more picture taking. i couldn't count how many DSLRs i see walking the street on any given street block- but I assure you there are many. If not a DSLR, a herd of folks with mini pocket point-and-shoots they are standing in line behind each other to al record the same thing. you should see the museums - it's like a scavenger hunt to just snap a picture and be on your way to the next famous painting, forget the admiration- that's for later.

-worth mentioning again: sadly, grafitti has caught on here- it is everywhere. i don't mean the occasional initials carved into a tree, i mean brooklyn-style, huge colorful block letters in places that make you stop and think: "now, how in the hell did they get up there and how on earth did no one see them doing it??"