London reflections

I’m in London for work today, and it’s a bit of a wasted trip. I needed to meet with one person to go over things, and could have met for about 3 hours on 2-4 different topics total. This person got busy and we only met for 30 minutes. Cripes. Why did I get up at 4:30 this morning to get to the train station, to get here, to not be totally productive? And it’s a beautiful day outside, too!

But now I have a chance to reflect on the two other times I’ve been back to London since moving to Paris…some observations :

1) Big Ben looks smaller than I remember it. When I lived here, I was surprised how much I liked seeing it all the time (I dislike pictures of it, postcards, etc. – I think in most it doesn’t look right, color is off, or it looks Disney-ish). Now, I’m a bit saddened by the fact that my memory makes it more than it is.

2) Oddly, I find the London Eye (gigantic Ferris wheel) and St. Paul’s Cathedral to look much larger than I remember them. Especially St. Paul’s – I don’t remember it’s dome being such a prominent site from around the city.

3) Compared to Paris, London is WAY MORE energetic / vibrant (or if you want some megativity, it’s crowded and loud). Paris is definitely more subdued. London culture is more hang out at the pubs, spill out onto the sidewalk (and late night, watch the people spill onto the sidewalks literally). It’s louder – conversations, music, etc. when you’re out and about. Sure, some parts of Paris are like this, but only some parts.

4) BY FAR London is less smelly. Still a dirty city (aren’t all big cities?) in terms of air/grime, not trash (as I’ve written before, despite the lack of rubbish bins, the sidewalks are surprisingly litter free). But no smell of random bodily excrements. Sure, some BO and bad breath, but nothing compared to Paris.

5) The city is “whiter” in terms of race, but more international, if that makes sense? And, a younger city it seems. Either that or the elderly in Paris still live in the city and get out a lot more than the elderly in London.

6) The London office – it’s like I’m still in France. 13 of the 33 people here are fluent in French and speak it often. Many times in side conversations, always in the kitchen – it’s like there’s two countries working here and interaction has diminished between the two since the French speaking population grew in numbers.

That’s all for now, time to head home soon.