2023 was a very good stay overall, and some aspects were perfect, but it has to be acknowledged that many otherwise good aspects of the visit had flaws.
Some Things Were Perfect
- In 2018 and 2019 I had rented a place with my first cousin Jackie, her daughter Lisa and her granddaughter Aya. We’d had fun in our household of cousins and I had lined up the same place for 2020 … until Covid. Fast forward three years: Lisa and Aya now live in Malakoff, a leafy southeast suburb of Paris, and Jackie’s in Africa. I got together with Lisa and Aya on several occasions, on May Day including Aya’s biological father Guy, just us for dinner in Malakoff, then a dinner including Ali, a lunch including Lisa’s sister Valerie, another lunch including Andy, Leah and Mike, and finally a second Malakoff outing with Bart. All were wonderful times – one might actually say flawless!
A Lot of Things Were Really Good, Albeit Flawed
- The weather was spectacular except for the fact that it rained every day for the ten days in May when Bruce & Bill visited. The first week of May and the last three weeks of June had just occasional showers, and the three weeks after Bruce & Bill left were the longest stretch of spring days without a drop of rain since 1949. It was cool in early May, as usual, but after it warmed up we just had day after day of pleasantly warm days and delightfully cool nights. Paris escaped the brutal heat wave elsewhere in Europe around the end of June. Overall, it was the best weather of any of my stays, but the way it rained on Bruce & Bill makes this factor mixed.
- The apartment was almost perfect — in most respects the best one I’ve ever rented in Paris. It had two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and a bathroom with new, top end washer and (replaced) drier. The front door opened onto a touristy street, lined with souvenir shops, but tourists rarely strayed from the direct route to Notre Dame, so the other side of the building was charming and historic but much less touristy. In May it was extremely quiet at night, partly due to the new double glazed windows, and in June it was still quiet enough after around 11 pm when various bars and special events wound down. It had fabulous through ventilation that almost always offered a breeze. The only real problem was mosquitos, the first time any Paris apartment I’ve rented has had them. When my guests started arriving in mid-June they got mercilessly bitten overnight. We tried burning anti-mosquito rings but the only thing that worked was to keep all the windows closed overnight. For temperature control we would throw the windows open to bring in the cool evening air before the mosquitos became active, and again in the morning before the day heated up. This worked ok because the nights in Paris are usually cool, and because Paris was spared the heat wave. I would love to rent this location again, but I would have to be confident that I could keep out the mosquitos!
- My health was on the whole good: My stamina didn’t seem to be affected by my 2021 heart surgery: I averaged 7 miles of walking per day, as in prior years. I had no problem with my feet as I had in two prior years. I didn’t, thank heavens, come down with Covid! But in May I got some sort of respiratory thing that gave me a runny nose and a cough. I wasn’t too sick but the cough deterred me from meeting anyone new, and even kept me from seeing old friends, except outdoors at a safe distance. This limited my enjoyment of Paris for about three weeks, between my May and June guests. My nasal issue cleared up by the time my June guests started arriving, so it didn’t affect my time with them.
- My house guests were marvelous. As always, there’s a wide variation in how independent they were; I need to spend more time with guests who are new to Paris, especially if they don’t speak French. The only real issue was of my own doing: I was a bit too greedy about inviting people and ended up with nonstop guests the last three weeks of June. All went well but another year I’ll try to space my guests out more, as in prior years. I love hosting, but I also enjoy exploring on my own and socializing with local folks.
- The museums were on the whole great. There’s always a variety, but this year’s Belleville Open Studios were spectacular and my guests introduced me to several museums I hadn’t been to, or not in recent years. The only mild disappointment was the Palais de Tokyo, which I have to accept will probably never again approach the astonishing level achieved in the mid-teens.
- Old friends were great, but I made no new ones. It was terrific catching up with Zhizhong and his daughter Camille, and lovely to socialize with the rest of the Harvard Parisian contingent. My brief overlap with Jared and Blaine was also nice. I only met a couple of new local guys, however, and even though one of them was quite nice I don’t count any of them as ongoing friends.
- Flights were good except… I paid for nonstop flights on Delta/Air France. The flight over was perfect but there were two annoying issues on the way back. Air France has stricter weight allowances for carry-on luggage than Delta, but I booked both flights through Delta, whose web site didn’t mention this. The system at Charles de Gaulle airport for enforcing this rule was badly designed so I ended up having to wait in long lines twice, and repack the small bag that I was required to check to remove lithium batteries. Then at security there was a SNAFU because something kept setting off the metal detector. Instead of just scanning me they kept demanding that I take off my belt and money bag and other non-metallic items in a very imperious and insulting way. Not fun!
I Noticed Some Risks With my Hosting Format
I became more aware this year of some what-ifs that didn’t ruin this trip but could have. My houseguests have bought plane tickets and are relying on me to provide accommodations so it would be a disaster if I couldn’t host them as planned.
- Poor health. What if I came down with Covid, or another infectious disease that prevented my guests from staying with me? What if I was incapacitated by some other health condition that prevented me from hosting, or from getting to Paris at all?
- A serious problem with the apartment. The mosquito issue was serious for the guests who were getting bitten, but didn’t ruin the trip overall. What if something else were wrong with my apartment that really made it unlivable? I would probably get my money back but my guests would have nowhere to stay.
- Covid or another pandemic. There will be more pandemic outbreaks, either of a Covid variant or something else, like bird flu. I might not be able to get my money back if Covid flared up again, since it’s a known risk. Guests would probably be able to recover what they paid for cancelled flights, but it would still be a mess.
- Civil disorder. I’m not too worried about this issue, despite the annoying gilets jaunes in 2019, the May Day retirement age demonstration this year, and the riots at the end of June sparked by the police murder of an Islamic boy. Strikes and demonstrations are part of French culture, but they usually have limited and somewhat predictable effects. A complete breakdown of law and order is possible, especially in the middle term, but not likely any time soon.
The bottom line is that I’ll probably want to rent and host in future years, in Paris or possibly Japan, but I’ll probably talk through these potential issues with prospective houseguests.
What About Next Year?
I’m already thinking about another petit séjour next spring. There are so many things I want to do and see! The Olympics could throw a monkey wrench in this plan, but since the games don’t start until the end of July rentals may still be available at a reasonable price for May and June. I will want to be confident that the mosquito issue can be managed, but apart from that I would be delighted to rent the same apartment; there may be construction on the hospital across rue d’Arcole, but Notre Dame should be finished, in fully-restored glory.