My Neighbourhood

This week, I have realized that I quite like this area. I feel quite at home, here. Whenever I go to some other part of Paris, I always feel relieved to get back here.


The other day, I decided to go for a walk between l'Opera and the Louvre. That was nice, and after stopping in one of my favourite Starbucks, halfway, I decided to continue further in that tourist zone just north of the Seine (right bank). I found the number of people crowding the sidewalks annoying, and I couldn't wait to find the closest metro and get back to Porte Maillot. 


When you get off the metro at Porte Maillot, you can go outside, but you can also walk through the shopping centre that links the metro and the RER trains to the Palais des Congres hotel. The shopping centre is really high end, and therefore, usually really quiet. The floors of the hallways are even carpeted! Then, I walk through the lobby of the very sophisticated hotel, and from it's entrance, it's only a short walk to the apartment. Or, I can walk along the cross-street, Avenue des Ternes, which has lovely big sidewalks, and step into the nice stores along it without crowds of people around. At almost every intersection, I can see the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the street (all the streets lead to it!) If I decide to walk up to it, I can then easily walk along any numbers of connecting streets and soon be near the Seine, looking at the Eiffel Tower.


If I feel like finding some space, I can walk from my apartment to the nearby Bois de Boulogne, where there is a forest, and also a lake. It feels like you are far outside of Paris!


Another great place to wander, especially if one wants space, is La Defense. It is just three metro stops from Porte Maillot(sometimes, it only takes about six minutes to get there) and there, you can walk around a beautiful, very modern space with very artistic skyscrapers, and at the end, the Grande Arche - the contemporary version of the Arc de Triomphe, which you can see in its mirror location in the distance. There is so much space here, but at any time, you can enter either of the huge, modern shopping centres and find pretty much anything you want!


Yesterday, I found a health-food store that reminded me a lot of Amaranth in Calgary, and it is about a minute's walk from my building. I can buy so many gluten-free things, there!