 At
Calais, we caught another train for the short journey to Paris. Our companions in the
compartment were a young lady and two young men escorting her, a trio returning from a
shopping trip to London. London has always been cheaper than Europe, so many Continentals
shop regularly across the Channel. Usually, the French do not like to speak in English and
pretend not to know it. This should be seen against the background of almost a thousand
years of hostility between the two nations and the numerous battles that have often been
fought between Catholic France and Protestant England. Both Dover and Calais have been
scenes of battles over the centuries.
They fought to control the trade in the
English channel and they competed for new colonies. They also fought in the Indian Ocean,
the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian sea, the Pacific Ocean and probably in others seas too. In
India, three Anglo-French wars were fought, with battles at Pondicherry, Cuddalore,
Wandiwash, Chandranagore and many other places. Despite these numerous conflicts, many
measures of reconciliation have also been attempted, mainly through marriage ties.
Shakespeare, in hilarious passages of 'Henry the Fourth', shows an English governess
trying to teach her language to a beautiful, innocent French princess, whose marriage to
the King of England is part of a peace proposal (for return of French territory taken by
the English). A marriage proposal on behalf of a not-so-worthy heir to the throne of
France was also received by Queen Elizabeth I.
So the French want visitors to speak to
them in French and not in English and usually do not like to reply if spoken to in
English. They do not feel happy with the reality that more people in the world have taken
to learning English than French. In their subconscious, they would still like to snub the
English and the English language. This causes a real problem for visitors who do not know
French. Luckily, our train companions knew a smattering of English so we were able to ask
them how best to utilise our limited time and money in Paris. They turned out to be real
angels and but for their guidance, we could not have made as much as we did of our little
vacation.
First, they advised us to buy a pack of
Metro (Paris underground train) tickets at Paris station. A pack of ten tickets cost 20
francs, each ticket valid for a journey to any destination around the town. We were
delighted to know that the Metro covered the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Seine River,
Notre Dame Cathedral, the Champs Elyses, the Pompidou Centre, the Samaritans, in fact
almost anywhere a visitor would like to go. We used the Metro throughout our stay, hailing
a taxi only once when we wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant in the middle of town. They
told us what to eat, where the get good crepes, which deli sold the best blue cheese,
where to buy fruits cheap and fresh and which bakery would give the best French loaf, date
and fruit loaf, coffee and raisin loaf and garlic bread. They advised us to stock these in
our room the first thing on arrival, so we didn't have to eat out all the time. This was
an excellent tip which helped us enjoy the best of local food at a very little cost.
I am very fond of Chinese food (though,
according to my husband, it is shame to go to Paris and want to eat a Chinese meal instead
of sampling the famous French cuisine). They told us where to find a cheap and good
Chinese restaurant, where to get inexpensive but good French food and which cafes to visit
on the Champs Elyses. We were advised to buy French sausages from the hawkers below the
Eiffel Tower and to visit the Latin Quarter and dine at a particular Greek restaurant,
ordering dishes they specified. Thus braced with ample information, we parted from our
French companions amidst much laughter and shaking of hands, at Paris. At the station
itself, we purchased two packs of tickets and took our first ride in the Metro to reach
our hostel. Of course, we had to lug our baggage a fair distance to the hostel, but that
hardly mattered in the fresh morning air of Paris.
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