An Anonymous Salsera's Trip to Paris, 1998
Click here for Responses

O.K. I decided since it has been absolutely impossible for me to write emails
to all of my friends who want to know what and how my trip to Paris was, the
best thing would be for me to write this synopsis of my trip. Then if you
have burning individual questions you can email me and I will see if I can
answer them...so here it goes..

I left SFO on May 20 which is a wednesday. This was a direct flight to Paris.
The flight was 10 hours long. Most of the people on the flight were
Parisians. There was some big Pharmaceutical convention meeting thing that
they all had attended. I learned this from the woman who sat next to me. I
managed to get through the flight alright. Sitting in pretty much one place
for 10 hours is not my idea of a good time. But really what choice did I
have? Good thing I brought 24 CDs and lots of batteries with me! (I also
managed to read the last 2 months of Infoworld as well)

The 21st landed me in Paris. WoW! Customs there is not like Mexico. They
didn't even stamp my passport. Actually the guy didn't even look at it. The
customs people just sort of hang around the door and say good bye (well
actually au revoir) as you leave. Me and my 2 bags made it to a very full
Roissy Bus. Paris does not give you many choices on getting to and from the
airport. Actually 2 choices A) a cab for $50 and b) the Roissy Bus which
makes 1 stop.

Being Ms. Adventure and cheap I took the Roissy Bus for 48 francs. This was
interesting. The bus was stuffed and I had to sit for almost an hour with my
suitcases on my lap. But I got to look out the window and see Paris when we
got there. What an amazing city. Just like that first time into san
Francisco you sit spellbound and in a daze.

The Roissy Bus lets you off at the Paris Opera House. I later found out that
although they still call this the Opera House, they don't do Opera there
anymore. That is actually done in the Bastille Opera House. This being the
old Opera House now has dances and some concerts. It was an awesome building.

Being somewhat disoriented I decided not to chance the metro to the hotel so I
took a cab. In my best non-existent french ( I had 7 classes before I went on
my trip) I asked to be taken to my hotel. I ended up having to show the
driver my confirmation form. He of course took the long way there to ensure a
higher cab fare. Oh well, it was really O.K. because I got to see more of the
City. You have no idea what it is like to see the Eiffle Tower for the 1st
time for real. It is incredible. I can't even describe it. You feel like
you are in a television program because you are finally seeing this thing you
have seen and heard so much about..and it is real.

Before I continue I want to dispel some myths about the French:

1. The French are rude and arrogant, they won't talk to you, they won't
tolerate your bad French, and they won't speak English even if they speak it.
This was not my experience. I found most French people to be very nice. No
one ever refused to help me, they could understand my horrible French, but
most of the time I could not understand what they were saying back to me. I
spoke more spanish than either French or English. I found more people who
spoke spanish as a second langauge than English. When people could speak
English no matter how little they tried very hard to communicate with me. The
only rude people I met were 20somethings with major attitude (and they are
rude here too) and this witchy old woman who ran the bookstore across from my
hotel who hit my hand because I dared to open a book and look at it.

2. Everyone in France looks like they stepped out of a designer showroom.
Again not true. If you did not know you were in Paris you would not know the
difference between there and here. People looked the same. Lots of white
people, asians, and blacks...no latinos :( to speak of) bunch of
middleasterners.

3. Paris is major expensive. Living in the Bay Area expensive is really a
relative term. The only thing I found really expensive was food in
restaurants. No matter how hard I tried, I could not keep dinner down to less
than $19. This was for a salad nicoise, wine, tart, and expresso. I might
also add they don't give you major portions either. The cheapest salad
nicoise I found was for 48 francs or $8. Forget chinese as being a cheap
alternative. My chinese dinner that was a small (and I mean small) bowl of
seafood soup, cup of rice (this cost $2), and what amounted to 2 - 3 serving
spoons of calamari and a Tsing Tao cost $24. Lest you think this was
exception, I'll have you know I checked several actually many chinese,
vietnamese, and Thai restaurants, because I could not believe the prices. But
again, other than food, everything else was about the same as here.

4. All Paris - French food is wonderful..yeah right just like in San
Francisco...but I do have to say the bakeries and the chocolates were fabulous
and I have the hips to prove it!! The bread is from heaven and the cheese,
wine, and beer..were beyond words.

Now some other things about Paris....

1. They love their cigarettes...smoke smoke smoke...everywhere. Coming from
fairly smoke-free California, this was a nightmare for a vigilant non-smoker
like me. These people smoke everywhere. Several times I would find a
restaurant I wanted to eat in, but when I would open the door and get hit with
wall of smoke, I just could not bear the thought of sitting in there and
eating. At the end of a day I smelled like smoke..yeech! The big joke was
the restaurant that advertised a non-smoking section. I went in and it was 2
tables in the middle of the restaurant..go figure.

2. They love their dogs. Doggies everywhere..department stores, restaurants,
everywhere you look..doggies. Incredible and all well behaved..Roxie would
not have been welcome..Rosie would have had a much easier time.

3. Paris is a very easy city to get around in. I found Paris very easy to
navigate. First of all I had very accurate maps. The metro is very easy,
fast, and inexpensive. I also walked alot. They mark the monuments, places
of interest, and museums. I never got lost, not even once. As a matter of
fact after 3 days I was giving directions to wayward American tourists. Taxis
are very expensive, I avoided them.

My hotel was great. It was in the 7th Arrondissment. I was walking distance
from the Eiffel Tower. The area was a residential area with lots of shops.
It was not a touristy area at all. I really loved it. I got to know some of
the people who worked on my street. It was really interesting to watch French
women do their shopping with those little wicker baskets..they really do that!
There was a street market a few blocks away on Rue Cler. I went there a
couple of times just to people watch while I had an Express and Croissant.
(Their coffee sucks - makes even Starbucks seem good)

I went to 22 museums. I am cultured out for awhile. I have a confession to
make, I hated the Louvre. Yes the building is magnificant. I can appreciate
the old stuff there, but god how much can one take? I could only look at so
much stuff from Mesopotamia before I wanted to scream. I found the Mona Lisa
(surrounded by Japanese who were snapping and popping those flashes) and after
4 hours I was out of there. I felt a little guilty, but not guilty enough to
stay..must have been all those forced culture vacations my mom made us take..

In contrast I loved the Picasso museum, L'orangerie, and the D'orsay which are
all bastions of modern and/or impressionistic art. The Picasso was wonderful.
There were some incredible works there by the master. His sculptures were
wonderful, very whimisical.

Some of the other museums and monuments I went to were the Rodin (the Thinker
is in the gardens - very cool) The Victor Hugo, (I liked the building more
than the Art) Legion of Honnaire (the old woman there got like super-excited
when she found out I was from SF as our Palace Legion of Honor is a replica of
this museum) Napoleon's Tomb (unreal) Army Museum, The Pompidou (the most
amazing looking building, they are redoing it - saw a max Ernst exhibit) and
about 10 more museums that if you really want to know what they were write
me...One thing I thought was kind of sad is that Calvin Klein the American
designer sponsored several art and cultural exhibits in Paris. I don't recall
seeing his name in SF surporting the arts, but maybe I am wrong.

I did go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was really neat. You take an
elevator up there. I know you can walk part of the way up if you want..but
there was no way that I was going to do that. I did however walk the 238
steps up to the North Tower of Nortre Dame Cathedral. Glad I had been doing
the stair-monster these past few months. They post a warning about the climb
and if you are not in good health not to do it. There is no place to rest,
you have to keep climbing and the walk-way is very narrow. Needless to say I
did have to squeeze by several people who were wheezing away. I also climbed
to the top of the L'Arc de Triomphe. This too provided a wonderful view.

I took a cruise down the Seine River which was really nice. I sat next to 3
ladies who were orginally from Hong Kong. 2 of them lived in Amsterdam and 1
was living in Austria and they had met up for a short vacation/reunion. They
were very sweet and very impressed that I was making this trip all on my own.
They insisted on taking my picture with my camera for me.

I did take one tour which was my only regret. It was a complete waste of
money. If you are at all an adventuresome type like me, then forget taking
any tours. This was to Versaille Palace. Because my experience with tours in
Mexico was always so positive, I thought this might be the same. It was over-
priced and terrible. the tour guide was French but she spoke English with
this very irritating accent. (It did not sound French) Her cadence and the
lack of information was very annoying. At one point I joined the Spanish
speaking tour as it was easier for me to understand Spanish tour guide with a
French accent than the horrible English our guide was speaking. The best was
this British couple I met, Terry and Brenda. They were in their late 50s and
hysterical. They kept me laughing the whole time. They even followed me to
the spanish group and asked me to translate as they found our group irritating
as well. They were so funny, they kept taking my picture, they took pictures
of me with them, and then they would ask other people to take a picture of the
3 of us.

I spent my birthday in the Marais and Bastille section of the city. I decided
to treat myself to a seafood lunch at a nice restaurant. Well no one in this
restaurant spoke English or Spanish. I decided to be adventuresome and order
things that I was not sure what they were..OHMIGOD. The first thing I ordered
I thought was an assortment of cold seafood..well it was..kind of. It was raw
and the only things that were recognizable were the oysters and the mussels.
Everything else were these wierd creatures.. I decided to try this one
thing..it expanded in my mouth and then got all sticky..it was GROSS!!!!!
DISGUSTING!!! I think that this was god's way of paying me back for making
Sarah and ALex eat asparagus. I could not touch another thing on this plate.
I sort of moved stuff around and was glad when they took it away. My main
plate was supposed to be grilled fish..I guess that was what it was..I was
never so glad to leave a restaurant and jam a chocolate ice cream down my
throat!!!!

Yes I did check out the salsa scene. What can you expect from a country with
almost no latinos. The salsa places played really old salsa - 5 to 6 years
old. I don't know what they danced there, but it wasn't like any salsa I
knew, and the people had major attitude. (20 somethings) No one spoke
spanish and it was pretty smokey (duh) and boring. I went to this restaurant
called "La Havanita" It was supposed to be the hippest latin place in
Paris..no spanish spoken..old salsa not even cuban music..I didn;t dare try
the food. I did try a cuban beer; Hatuey, which was wonderful. The plantain
chips were a joke.

I met this Puerto Rican girl on L'Arc. She was happy to meet someone who
spoke Spanish and who would talk to her. She said that when she was in Spain,
the Spainards had made fun of her Spanish and that the French snubbed her as
well. (For the uninformed, Puerto Rican Spanish is not the same and as my
friend Juan from Venezuela says "they damage the language") Anyway, I asked
her what she thought about the Salsa in Paris. She laughed and called La
Havanita TGIFs. ( sort like going to Chevy's for Mexican food. ) Anyway, she
and I traded stories and gave each other helpful hints and went on our way..

I even found the Internet in Paris. Hey I made it 8 days without touching a
computer. Who would have thought you could access the Internet from a perfume
store? Well you didn't think that I stay away that long could you? I met
this mexican girl and so ensued another conversation about Paris and Mexico
and life on the internet. She was delightful and I really enjoyed our
conversation. The store itself was truly incredible, you should check out
their website: sephora.com

And now the Million Dollar Question: What did I think about French Guys? Not
much, white guys who don't talk English. I wasn't attracted to them. They
don't flirt. Parisians are very serious..very little eye contact. In my 9
days in Paris the only guys to flirt with me were 2 african guys who worked at
the louvre, they spoke no english and when they found out I was from northern
california they kept chanting: TUPAK TUPAK...4 Mexican guys waiting at Sephora
to use the Internet, 3 Argentinians who ran a tshirt store near the Louvre. 1
French waiter who kept winking at me..

Things started to get tense before I left. The Islamic Jihad was making
threats to disrupt the World Cup. The French took this very seriously. It
was very scary to run into French soldiers dressed in combat fatigues holding
machine guns up in the Metro. Last Tuesday they arrested 89 people who were
known troublemakers. On my trip out of Paris my passport was checked 4 times
along with my luggage and boarding pass. I don't think that I would want to
be there for the World Cup.

I had a wonderful trip, there was so much more, but I can only write so much,
and I was glad to float into the arms of my friend who came to pick up me up,
even if he couldn't remember where he parked his car at SFO...and to see my
dog babies...

Responses...
Dear Anonymous,
It is funny how cultural differences can seem charming. I am not what you
might call a typical French guy ( I am Black, from Africa - father from
both Congo and Democratic Congo, and mother from both Chad and Congo, and
with direct ancestors in West Africa or Angola : let's call me an African
pudding - the difference is that they used the best parts of the cakes to
produce the sweet pastry that I am; furthermore, crossborder mixtures being
infrequent in my continent, I pride myself of being one of a rare kind ...
I feel that you do begin to like me ... :-) ).

Beg you pardon, but my favorite subject being myself, it is kind of
difficult to speak about something else ... I were saying that I am not a
typical French guy, nevertheless after reading your note I felt like '
These US folks should stop compairing what they see to what they left at
home '.

First, I never drink any coffee, except in the US where it tastes like
water or anything else but coffee. Have you ever noticed that apart from
the US, nobody in this world drinks so light a coffee ?

Second, how do you know that the cab driver took a longer route than usual,
considering that you never ever previously been to Paris ?

Third, you said that there were no Latinos in Paris. But there are plenty
of them, the difference is that most of them come from Argentina and
Brazil. Furthermore, for ten years now, there are more and more Colombianos
- that you might had the chance to meet if you had entered the Parisian
Salsa scene ... ( we will discuss this point later. )

Fourth, French guys are not too serious. They are galant ! Wich means that
women wish and we accomplish.

Fith, you are wrong when you say that French people are not arrogant and
fussy. I can tell you because I were raised among them, as a matter of fact
I am one of them. And we do pride ourselves of our 'French Exception'. It
is a concept which allows us to do whaterver we want, just because we are
French - isn't it politically splendid ? This is the very reason why we
cherish Charles De Gaulle, because he is the genius who devised this trick.

I could go on for this during hours, but we have enough of one would-be
nuclear conflict for the moment. By the way, do you know any Salsa clubs in
India or Pakistan ?

OK let's get to the point ! You said that there is no Salsa scene in Paris.
So, what have La India, Victor Manuel or Jerry Rivera been doing here lately ?
The place ( the Havanita ) you have been, looked like something faintly
Cuban four years ago, when it opened. Today it is just a place where one
can eat bad food while listening to equally bad music.

The other place you mentionned, the one packed with rude 20-somethings, is
likely to be the Montecristo or the Baladjo. Whichever it might be, the
funny thing is that there are few French people in it. Most of them are
either tourists or foreign students - these later being mainly US citizens ...

There is a Salsa scene in Paris, small, but dynamic. To begin, I must agree
that there is a kind of Latin fashion for the moment down here. The result
being that everything which is marketed now is always supposed to have
something to do with Salsa ...

In order to understand the Salsa movement here, you have to bear in mind
that Paris is a closed city. People do not interact with one another. They
move with people from their own 'clique'. It does not mean that you can not
jump from one group to another, it means that these 'cliques' never
interact with one another.

As a consequence, the Salsa scene protects itself from the 'Carnaval' out
there. Another aspect is that the Salsa movement is divided between three
groups : people from Africa and West Indies tradionally listen to Salsa
with their native music, for them La Musica Latina is everything but new -
since I were born, 26 years ago, there has not been a single day where my
father has not listened to Salsa music, I am addicted from the craddle; the
second group is composed by French people, generally politically oriented,
who used to support Latin American movements and Humanitarian causes, and
came back to France with the music in their luggage; and the last group is
the newest - it began three to four years ago -, it is a mixture of people
from both previous groups and also newcomers to the music.

I belong to this last group, which is the European branch of your
Salsaholic movement in the US. As a matter of fact, we are 90 % Salsa and
10 % ... Merengue. Unlike, the two other groups we are open to other Salsa
genres than Cuban or Colombian styles.

Open, but not too much. It is a fact that the US Salsa is new to us. New,
because few CDs are available here. But also, because when we compare it to
that of the 70's masters or that of the Cuban charangas, these laters'
'son' still compose 90 % of our CD library.

Salsa Romantica is too sweet for us, we need punch ! This is the reason why
Cuban groups ( old and new ) are so succesfull here. US style Salsa stars
only manage to attract the tenth of the audience of Los Van Van or La
Charanga Habanera. Only the old US school ( La Fania ...or Celia Cruz ) and
Oscar can do likewise.

This is the reason why when it comes to US Salsa, few new releases are
heard. We are always one to three years backward. But when it comes to
Cuba, I believe that we get it even before the musicians compose it !

Only Victor Manuelle would have a chance to be bought. We listen to the
rest on radio ( 'Radio Latina' is the holy name ), but we buy Cuban or
Colombian. It does not mean that US Salsa type is bad stuff, it is just the
feeling which is different.

When we met Latinos from the States, they always tell us that they need
something danceable. They mean Slasa Romantica. Whereas we prefer to dance
on 'Soneros de Bailadores' or 'Te Pone La Cabeza Mala' ... One of my friend
was even asked by a Newyorican Salsa teacher for a few lessons ... - it is
not about boasting, but it seems that we dance faster and with more moves
down here.

Nevertheless, we do not forget that Salsa is an American music, from Latin
folks, but born in the US. And we are really interested in discovering what
is going on where you live. Musically speaking, but also among the
non-musician Salseros. You might even one day meet us in NY, Miami or even
SF - it was a shock to me when I realised that you were hosted in
California, ... so intelligent life can survive west to the Rockies , can't
it ? ;-) .

We are not kiding when we say that we are interested in non-musician
Salseros. Because Salsa is a show on the scene, but also - if not above all
- on the dancefloor. When people will stop dancing, there will be no Salsa
anymore.

If one day we are to come to your city we will let you know, as a matter of
fact, we will do even if we go elsewhere in your country. Prepare the
complete US Salsa guide, we are coming ! ( we even managed to find a Salsa
club in Copenhagen ! and those Danish girls are Dancing Queens ! ... I must
agree that I went there with a prejudice. I used to live in Belgium for 10
years, during which I also travelled a lot in Northen Europe. As a
consequence, I am less than a fan of blondish Scandinavian cutees.
Nevertheless I have to admit that when the Salsa fever catches them : it is
a hell of a show ! )

If you were to need information on what is going on here - US artists
performances or others -, your wish will be my command. Dream Team Cuba was
in the place last Saturday, La Combinacion Perfecta would need to dance on
their hands to produce that much of an effect !

And if you were to come back, you or one of your friends( anybody you might
know, it is always a pleasure to meet other Salseros or Salseras - I know
that you American folks are a bit touchy about gender matters :-) ), let's
us know. Because we do agree that after a marred visit at 'Le Louvre' and a
boring guided tour of 'Versailles' ( better visit the military facilities
in front of the castel, you would manage to have more fun ! I can tell you,
because I were happily :-( doing my military service there; and it was a
feast compared to what these poor tourists seemed to endure. ), Parisian
pleasures are more of a myth than reality. And this city can be the
sweetest of all places with the proper guides.

Fare you well my Good Friend,
Edmond.

Hello

I have a few comments concerning 'anonymous' experiences in Paris.

I am from Norway and have been going to Paris several times, including
twice after I started dancing salsa two years ago. All though I agree in
some of her points, I also agree with Edmond that 'anonymous' does not
give a just presentation about the salsa scene in Paris. First of all
there's a lot of good places with a great atmosphere. Let me just mention
La Coupole, La Java and Les Etoiles. These places have French and Latin
bands on the stage that really make you move. And one of the best concerts
I have ever been to was with Los Van Van at Bataclan.

I was also a little bit disappointed the first time by what to me seemed
like an old fashioned salsa played by the DJs. After a while I kind of got
used to it and I know tend to prefer it to salsa romantica. Concerning the
dancers I agree it's not impressive. It's surprising because there are so
many people giving courses and practicing. It seem like most people dance
much in the Colombian way, mostly from side to side without many turns. I
think I can count on my fingers the number of persons I have seen doing a
more Cuba like salsa. And I have never seen anyone do a Rueda. At my last
visit I was told that the place with the best dancers is called Latino Bar
but I did not have the time to check it out.

Concerning all the other things anonymous talks about, a few comments
should be made. From the airport you can also take the train for about the
same price as the bus. It has the advantage that it stops on several places
and is connected to the metro. And you can eat really cheap in Paris. For
example a decent Chinese or Vietnamese three plate dinner with wine for 7-8
US$. For 20$ you'll get a good typically three plate French dinner with wine.

Best wishes,
Joar