Eating out in Nijmegen

This post is a list - so I'll keep adding to it as the year goes along.

Since I have resolved to be a cheerful expat - let me start this by saying that beer in Nijmegen is good and always cheap. An excellent range of beers and a cosy atmosphere may be found in almost all drinking establishments. Food and Nijmegen however, are a combination that can cause some anxiety in the minds of expats. Firstly shops are closed all day Sunday - which can lead to the disorganised expat getting a little peckish. But you can buy pretty much anything between the supermarkets, health food shops, toko marts (asian food shops) and Turkish and Russian groceries. As far as eating out, food establishments can be very variable, and are always overpriced so the experience can be somewhat deflating. Which is why you need a food guide to Nijmegen....

As it happens one is at hand. Allow me to lead you around the best food options I've found so far. First I'll give you a picture of my tastes - I am vegetarian, but can eat large amounts of dairy (believe me it's come in handy), tolerate a fair amount of grease (in the absence of sogginess), am not so keen on mixing sweet and savoury or salt in large amounts and above all enjoy fresh vegetables and interesting mixtures of spices (as opposed to the prevaliling one spice per item attitude I find around here - oops I complained!).

I've put an address or link where possible, you can always find your way to these places using:
http://www.routenet.nl/

Tips and warnings:
1. Do not go into any old pizza or kebab shop thinking 'how bad could it be?' You will find out.
2. In many places you need to order dinner before 8pm.
3. Many bars have snacks of some type
4. When it doubt order appeltaart (apple pie) it's is always nice.

1. Maoz vegetarian, Grote markt 19
A little take-away with seating for about 8. The food is good and you always find an interesting crowd, although you won't want to stick around as it's always also crowded. They offer falafels in flatbread with a range of salads and sauces as well as chips and drinks. I recommend the carrot salad and the coriander sauce. The chips are actually crunchy, the only place you can get crunchy chips north of the belgian border. Maoz is a chain, but don't let that put you off. People do eat the salad out of their pocket and then refill it, so don't hold back if you get thrilled by this place (I know I did the first time). I find it a nice place to go when I get sick of my own cooking. Leave plenty of time, if you're off to see a movie or something as for some reason it takes 15 minutes to fry a falafel and stick it into a break pocket. But it's worth the wait.
Prices: 4-6 euros depending on your 'meal' option.
(thanks for the tip JP)

2. Weet je wel (y'know), Priemstraat 13
A little cafe down the hill behind the Grote markt. A bit tricky to find but worth finding. The staff are nice and friendly, also quite attentive. The food is relatively fresh and they always have a few different vegetarian options. One time I had a quiche, the next time a lasagne. Both were very tasty. Food is typically dutch here in being very soft in texture. Being used to that I wasn't surprised that there was no difference between the texture of the noodles in my lasagne and the eggplant. I would steer away from the asian food here - which from the look of it is very dutch-style (sweet, salty brown sauces). With your main meals at dinner time you get the traditional 3 bowls to share a dutch (?Nijmegen) tradition. The three bowls are: salad, (!brown) bread and chips. The yellow walls are especially cosy in winter. You can't sit outside at all, but it's still nice in summer.
Prices: 13-15 euros for a main course at dinner time
Note: You have to order dinner before 8pm
(thanks for the tip - M&A)

3. Australian ice cream, Koningstraat 35
You've heard of New Zealand Ice Cream and all those ones with scandinavian names, now it's time for.... Australian ice cream! Complete with dot designs on their chocolates. I found out from their website that they have 2 shops in Sydney which is pretty funny. Click on the website and listen to the didjeridoo:

http://www.australianhomemade.com/front/index.asp

First I should mention that the ice cream and chocolate at this place is very yummy. Purported to be a Belgian company, it is actually a chain based in Nijmegen. There is also a chain called Australian ice cream in Belgium but their shop-design is different (green and gold) and the ice cream isn't very good.
They seem to be cutting down on the use of dot-patterns in the shop and on the chocolates, I think they got a bit of flack for it - kind of a shame. Australians do not get a discount - I tried already!
Prices: usual ice-cream prices (under 5 euros)
(thanks for the tip Clair)

There are also some nijmegen restaurants reviewed on this website, but most seem to be the fairly touristy ones:
Virtual tourist website

Translation exercise 2: Shenkie video

My apartment comes with a tv with MTV which might seem dangerous but actually the videos they show aren't that exciting - they have a predominance of dance music videos (boring!) and woofy English rock (Arctic monkeys, coldplay blah blah). But! I happened to see an incredibly amusing one this morning, and even if you didn't find the article from De Brug Nijmegen interesting, I think you'll like this one, although it looks better on tele.



It's by a band called 'De jeugd van tegenwoordig' (the youth of today / contemporary youth). Purported to be the winner of a competition which asks people to make their own music video but actually professionally done. It is extremely amusing, and would probably be classified as child porn in Australia.

Band website:
http://www.dejeugdvantegenwoordig.com/
Filmakers website:
http://www.filmjugend.de/
An article about the clip/band/filmaker (in dutch):
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/artikel/34650690

I downloaded two different transcriptions of the lyrics - both are totally different! It doesn't sound like it would be such a hard song to hear the words of, if you could speak dutch, but maybe the people transcribing it can't speak much dutch either, or perhaps they're 8 years old. Anyway, the meaning clearly isn't deep, whatever it is (think I'll stick to De Brug from now on).

Shenki
Reverse, you’re crazy for this one!

(Willie Wartaal)
Dan wat! Ik spit niet goed,
What then! I (something) no good
Ik hop hip als een konijn in de Jimmy Woo,
I hip hop like a rabbit in Jimmy Woo
G in de hoek met groepies G in de hoek met tjoeries,
G in the corner with groupies, G in the corner with [tjoeries]
Eentje voor je praatjes, eentje voor je stank,
one for your chats, one for stink
Eentje voor je …,
one for your [?skins/skinheads]
Want die dames willen gratis drank,
because the girls want free drinks
Dus twee tjoeries en twee keer twoe,
so two [tjoeries] and two times [twoe]
Je hele crew is een beetje moe,
your whole crew is a little bit tired
Nepkomen ik weet niet hoe,
fronting I don't know how
Shenkies zijn played out als Evisu
Shenkies are played out like Evisu

Chorus:
Shenkie in de koelkast
Shenkie in the fridge
Kenker je bent een fool gast
Kenker you're a fool guest
Oublié, quelque chose
(french - help!)
Faffie, faffie, oeh ah
(2x)

(Fabergé)
P en faber E en G en een E met een moeilijk streepje Gé,
to the P to the E to the G to the E with a difficult stroke Gé
Ik kraak wat af….,
I diss a bit
Als ik door je heen prik zijn de rapen gaar,
when I pierce you with my weaving rap (a rather imaginative interpretation_
Ja ik ben weer op TV (…),
Yeah, I'm on TV again
Als ik…..(met m’n luchtbalon),
when I... (with my balloon)
Shows in Frankfürt…. ,
En ik hang met Reverse, hij is ook bekend,
And I hang with Reverse, he's also well known
Geld geven heeft zeker zin,
Getting money makes sense
Stort je props maar lekker op m’n rekening,
Kindly leave your props on my account
Wat is al die shine en die slechte geur,
What's all the shine and the bad smell
Fabergé, Willie W en Vieze Fur,
Faberge, Willie W and Dirty Fur
Wat de fok is al die shine en slechte geur,
What the fuck is all the shine and bad smell
Fabergé, Willie W enneh Vieze Fur
Faberge, Willie W and Dirty Fur
Refrein

(Vieze Fur)
Koetjesrepen in me huis,
Caramels in my house (koetjesrepen are a brand of caramel or some other typically dutch sweet, there's a lot of them)
Koetjerepen in me vacht,
Caramels in my skim
Koetjesrepen in me buik ,
Caramels in my tummy
Koetjesrepen komen hard,
Caramels come hard (?)
(2x)

Koetjesrepen, koetjesrepen
Caramels, Caramels
Wie wil er nou m’n koetjesrepen
Who wants my caramels then?
Koetjesrepen, koetjesrepen
Caramels, Caramels
Neem alsjeblieft m’n koetjesrepen
Please take my caramels

(lyrics downloaded from http://3voor12.vpro.nl/artikelen/artikel/34650690)

Cyclists on the footpath: a translation exercise

Recently, R sent me a little package which contained a copy of our local newspaper, which we get in our mailbox every week free at home in Australia, the reading of which often accompanied my breakfast or nature's cuppa. Seeing this newspaper in my apartment in Nijmegen brought back two strong feelings - one of homesickness, of the relaxed kind of time wasting that seems to be only possible at home, another of embarassment or some kind of cringe because it seemed so ridiculous and out of place.

However, since then I have received the latest issue of the local free Nijmegen newspaper (De Brug Nijmegen). Looking at this it seems to be that it's no more or less ridiculous. In particular, an article on the front page caught my eye about cyclists being prosecuted for riding on the footpath, to get around some construction work. Having ridden this particular (illegal!) route myself a few times, I got interested and it seems Nijmeegse are perhaps just as amusing for their over involvement in politics as Northcotians are for their lack.

Since my dutch is coming along rather well and I'm getting lots of pats on the back for it, I decided to try and translate the article - it's probably not as amusing in English, but I've tried to stick as closely to the original as possible.

A bit of background: on my usual route in to town, I noticed last week that for one block the road is fenced off because it is being resurfaced, following others I simply rode along the footpath for this block, although I did notice others go off and do the other 3 sides of the block instead. As you can see from the article, I was one of the lucky ones as the police weren't around the (numerous) times I flagrantly broke the law. But as you will see from the article some of the cyclists who got booked weren't happy about it. Note acronyms refer to (real!) political parties.

Politie moet gewoon haar werk doen (The police have to do their job)
De Brug Nijmegen, Wednesday 16 May 2007, volume 48, number 20, page 1.
"The police have to be able to do their job" states Mayor Thom de Graaf. "There was nothing wrong with the bicycle-checking patrols that took place on the Heyendaal street. People are not allowed to ride their bikes on the footpath".
Mayor De Graaf was responding to the bicycle-checking patrols that took place last week on Heyendaal street and caused a commotion. The police were right to have stood on the corner and booked the cyclists who rode up the kerb. According to the cyclists they didn't really have any choice: there was construction work on the road so only the footpath was available. One student videod the situation and published it on www.geenstijl.nl.
According to the mayor it got hyped up. "The police book people to keep order. The situation has been blown out of proportion. "
During this time the PvdA-faction lodged written inquiries about how the business was handled. The independent youth wing of the VVD also responded to the situation. According to the young liberals the police did the right thing. The construction work was taking place right next to a school ground which the bicycles were riding past, creating a dangerous situation. "It is generally recognised that cycling on the footpath is forbidden and because of that it is shameful that the booked cyclists are not willing to take responsibility (for their actions)" said chairperson Marloes Kuijpers.

Amusing? Or only for me?

Here's the original if you want to give me any tips:
Politie moet gewoon haar werk doen

NIJMEGEN - "De politie moet gewoon haar werk kunnen doen", meldt burgemeester Thom de Graaf. "De fietscontroles die zijn uitgevoerd op de Heyendaalseweg waren niet verkeerd. Men mag niet fietsen op trottoirs."
Burgemeester De Graaf reageert op de fietscontroles die vorige week werden uitgevoerd op de Heyedaalseweg en waar commotie is over ontstaan. Die politie zou 'om het hoekje hebben' gestaan en vervolgens de fietsers de over de stoep reden hebben bekeurd. Volgens de fietsers hadden zij echter geen andere keuze: er zijn wegwerkzaamheden en de stoep was alleen vrij. Een student heeft deze situatie met zijn camera vastgelegd en gepubliceerd op www.geenstijl.nl.
Volgens de burgemeester is het een hype geworden. "Die politie deelt bekeuringen uit om situaties te handhaven. Ik denk dat deze situatie nu wordt opgeblazen."
De PvdA-fractie heeft inmiddels schriftelijke vragen ingediend over de gang van zaken. Ook de onafhankelijke jongerenorganisatie van de VVD heeft gereageerd. Volgens de jonge liberalen is het juist goed dat de politie controleert. De werkzaamheden vinden vlak voor een school plaats waardoor het fietsen over het trottoir gevaarlijke situaties oplevert. "Het is algemeen bekend dat fietsen over het trottoir verboden is en daarom is het schandelijk dat bekeurde fietsers hun verantwoordelijkheid niet willen dragen.", aldus voorzitter Marloes Kuijpers.

12 Adventures in Nijmegen

Photo: from a dutch Naturists (nudists) site.

Not that I would want to compare Nijmegen to Antwerp or anything but the guide book '12 Adventures in Antwerp' has inspired me to rack my brains and think of 12 exciting things to do in Nijmegen. I'm going to make a start here, and I might not finish until I've finished my time here (at the end of the year) but I think I'll get there.
(drum roll)

Number 1: De Thermen
A sauna-complex that has been rated number 3 in the Netherlands (not sure how to but I really want to find out which are numbers 1 and 2!). There are many different saunas - very nice of different temperatures with nice wood smells in them. Also different spas. My favourite part is the steam room in a middle-eastern theme: blue and white tiles, a turkish-style fountain, pin-point lights in the ceiling that change colour and a round pool to sit in when you get too hot and very soothing music. De Thermen aren't very expensive - you can go in for 20 euros, but you might be tempted to relax around the artificial fire in the restaurant/bar and spend money on food and drinks later. The food isn't bad. If you have your own bathrobe and thongs (flip-flops) bring them. Clothes are generally forbidden, it is mixed at all times but you must wear a bathrobe in the restaurant/bar. The website has the address:
http://www.thermen.com/index.htm

There is another sauna-complex in Nijmegen: The sanadome. This is part of a resort hotel with more of a corporate-feel and much busier. It's main appeal is a big round pool outside - especially nice in the winter. De Thermen only has a small outside pool between the building and a fence.

2. Duivelsberg Pannekoekenhuis (Devil's mountain Pancake house)
In the warmer weather, it's a nice bike ride up to this Pancake house in the forest. I recommend the buckwheat pancake with blackberries. I un-recommend the savoury pancakes (although the flesh-oriented might be tempted by the local bacon and apple pancake). It's only open until 8pm I think, but it is nice in the evening as the sun sets.

http://www.pannenkoek.nl/intro-duivelsberg.html

3. Musicmeeting
A world music festival, held over Pinksterweekend every year. See blog above for all the details.


..... to be continued

Carousing in Antwerp

Small photo: The dumpbrothers, big photos: Petrol nightclub



Carousing - what they do best in Antwerp. Wherever you go this (spring) time of year you will find people carousing, often where you least expect it. Drinking, drugs, singing, dancing, playing music, dressing up and staying up late seem to be generally well thought of by most if not all of the popluation (including Neo Nazis, Jews and Muslims of various persuasions), [I didn't actually witness any neo nazis carousing but I'm guessing].
So how to get in on it? Actually you could probably just wander around, any time of day except maybe 6am-12am and you'd happen upon something. But if time's short as it often is for the intrepid expat, having to get back to work on Monday, then here's some hints. I'll start with where you probably want to be at the end of the night and work backwards.

Scheld'apen and Petrol - two reasons you want a bike, unless you're a keen late-night walker. To find them go along the river until you pass over a big freeway that goes under the river (everything goes under the river, there's no bridges in Antwerp) keep going a short way and you'll get to Petrol and Scheld'apen, follow someone to find the entrance.

Scheld'apen is your ferally kind of place basically a small old building that is a bar, surrounded by a kind of vacant lot with nice trees and some outdoor stages. Probably not so good in inclement weather for this reason. The night we were there they even made food, although the dish was called 'wok' which is disturbing to an Australian, I didn't try it. We saw the dumpbrothers play there (see photos above), and there were about 300 enthusiastic people in the audience, so I think they might be the house act.

Petrol is a big shed with an asphalt floor. The decor isn't bad (see photos) but it seems to have really good acts! (Why don't we get these in Melbourne, there's only 450,000 people here). The night we were there it was a special one-off night called Microob (not sure if it is a regular event or one off). It was some kind of showcase of local talent. There was a really good DJ mixing up all kinds of stuff, I think it was the one called TWENTYSOMETHING but he doesn't have a myspace - damn! One band we saw which was quite good was sukilove, they have a webpage which is quite cute and you can hear their music:

http://www.sukilove.com

Apart from that, just wander the streets in the old centre at night to see plenty of carousing in little bars. We were almost home Sunday night, when we passed by a tiny bar, half filled with a band consisting of a drummer with one drum and a cymbal, a bassist and a very drunk singer with keyboard (who sung loud enough not to need a microphone). Add to this a few tables and some very drunk customers carousing as much as was possible in the space, of various ages and degrees of eccentricity (judging by appearances). One had a little dog with him, a lady accosted another couple who were leaving, apparently accusing them of taking something from her handbag. Buying a drink didn't seem to be possible, instead were given Cava, the Catalonian Champagne which is the latest craze all over (I prefer it to Champagne myself, doesn't have the spew-aroma). Apparently the band had been walking past and asked if they could play, being as it was not a typical venue. After a while we left, the singer just got too drunk and stared at his keyboard telling everyone to wait a minute when they complained and two british tourists came in, one slapping his knee and insisting we sit on it.

Antwerp bands: since leaving Antwerp, I have been lucky enough to see two Antwerp bands play here in Nijmegen. DAAU (Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung - The Anarchic evening entertainment) are pretty good - you can listen to their music here:

http://www.radicalduke.com/

They played this song:

dispositioning system

This one on their website is good, it is with a singer called An Pierlé who seems cool, although I never heard of her:

The lost pussy

They do a mean static. I saw them would you believe at a place formerly known as the Open Air Bible Museum. Recently renamed as Museum Park Orientalis. Wierder and wierder but wait.... forthcoming: 12 Adventures in Nijmegen.

Antwerp hotels and transport

I've only tried two hotels in Antwerp so far so I can't really claim to be an expert. The first time we stayed in hotel Rubenshof whose beautiful breakfast room is shown above. I think it says something about Belgians that the breakfast room is often the nicest room in the house. Unfortunately I can't say much for the actual bedroom at hotel Rubenshof, or the shower (dribble, dribble..) or the location - which is a little dull and not that convenient to anything.

Last time we stayed in 't Katshuis (I'm not going to bother giving web addresses because you can easily google these places). We got a much better deal in terms of a big room with a bathroom and plenty of water coming out of the shower. However, should you be sensitive to noise at all, or should the weather be warm enough that you have to leave the window open - you will not get any sleep at all! At least on the weekend, because there are bars downstairs and the cathedral is very near and the bells ring pretty much continuously all day Sunday. This didn't worry us because we sort of slumbered in total exhaustion after all the excitement we were having. Also Katshuis is very convenient - it is just off the Grote Markt and everything is handy.

Some parts of Antwerp are close together - the old centre, the river, the Centraal station area and the Hasidic area - but there is a lot to see further afield. If you love trams (teeny weeny ones) - you can get them. Otherwise a bike is a good idea. We got them from a place on Steenplein in the centre and they were very handy despite being extremely poorly maintained. I would recommend going for the cheapest bike, since having gears didn't help my bike at all and is probably what was making it slip constantly.

Antwerp: a guide to tourist info

Photo - a house in Zurenborg, an area mentioned in '12 adventures in Antwerp'

First thing to know about Antwerp is it's not that much use looking in guidebooks. They really give it short shrift as they don't actually expect anyone to go there [Come on lonely planet! You start the entry saying 'Antwerp is cool' then give it about 5 pages, mostly listing chi-chi restaurants of the type you can find anywhere].

The Antwerpians though, are more than happy to show you around and what's really wierd is they actually know what you want to see. They love their city, almost as much as me and for the same reasons. Have a look at the Antwerp city website to start with:

http://www.antwerpen.be/

When you get there head straight to the Antwerp tourism office on the Grote Markt (there's no sign or anthing on the building, but you should find it). They have really good free maps and also all sorts of brochures and booklets. They keep these behind the counter (so they don't get wasted of course). They don't really want you to get the good stuff so look at this part of the Antwerp city website which lists all the brochures so you know what to ask for:

http://www.antwerpen.be/eCache/BEN/266.html

There is a really good booklet called '12 Adventures in Antwerp' which goes through all different districts of Antwerp and lists attractions and gives a walk suggestion. It's 3 euros. There is also a free 'guide to Antwerp for young people' - which is made by the Use-it crew. I never thought I'd like anything for young people, but you're never too old to try these guides. Use-it has a website:

http://www.use-it.be/

You can download the use-it guides there. If you can't print A2 or whatever size it is you can get all the use-it maps for Antwerp, Ghent and Brugge from the people at the Antwerp tourist office, if you ask for each one by name. Only Antwerp seems to have a chunky little booklet from use-it.

Antwerp: gush gush gush

O.k. I don't know how I'm going to make this interesting because I am just crazy about Antwerp. After being disappointed with Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Cologne (not that there's anything wrong with them...) I've finally found a place, not too far from home, where you get the feeling interesting things are going on.

Arrival point: Antwerpen Centraal shown in picture above (alright it's in all the guidebooks!). When I first saw it I had a sense of deja vu. I think it was represented exactly in Spirited Away. The cartoonist probably found it so inspiring and couldn't think of possibly imagining a better train station, so just copied it as is. They have just finished building some lower levels to the train station, so now you can actually get this photo, as you're coming up an escalator.

Antwerp is a hidden little pocket of Europe where things are actually able to happen. As in Berlin, people actually have the time and the inclination to do interesting things. But how did such a place happen to develop here, in the middle of western Europe, unlike Berlin which is more or less on the border of east and west? I think at this point we have to give it to the Flems, who seem to have been able to make the most of being at the juncture of English, French and German cultural influences.

The atmosphere of past glory also gives Antwerp it's feel. The fact that the cost of living is way behind that of neighbouring areas means that it has attracted a fair few migrants and also those of the artistic persuasion. Also it's reputation for being 'dodgy' and 'dangerous' has probably helped.

O.k. enough gushing and on to the practicalities.

Coming out as a Nijmeegse

O.k. there is no point maintaining my mysterious blogging persona any longer. I'm living in Nijmegen - a rather inconsequential town in the Netherlands between Amsterdam and Antwerp. I didn't want to talk about Nijmegen or even the Netherlands in particular because I didn't want this to be so much an expat blog but more of a travel blog. Being as it is, inconsequential it is hard not to start to feel fond of Nijmegen, so I thought I might blog about it. The travel blog will continue.

Thus the lovely pictures of my local 'botanical gardens' (quotes because they're rather more modest that what you might have in mind as a botanical garden). This patch of land was extremely unimpressive until recently but now that spring has sprung though there are new flowers popping up almost every day - and don't those European plants look so much happier in their home country - happily growing in the almost permanent light rain. I tried to capture the yellow water irises but alas, they don't look nearly as impressive in the picture.

That's all for now about Nijmegen, I have to gush about Antwerp, my new love - but Nijmegen will be back - like a commercial, between travel blogs as it isn't nearly as dull as it seems on the surface.

Paris: Actually interesting and cool stuff

You know how you always pictured Paris: the cultural-melting pot? The interesting fashions? The amazing food? the beautiful scenery? Yuh well, are you in for a shock. Most of it is fairly monotonous grey buildings with fairly monotonous Parisians grumpily going about their mundane lives, and even the teenagers wear unbelievably conservative clothes - but wait! There are two areas where all your dreams come to life: Belleville and Goutte d'or. My recommendation: Stay in Belleville, hang in Goutte d'or.

Belleville: A place for anything North African: Couscous restaurants, amazing Algerian cakes, North African goods: food, slippers, carpets. Things are livelier when the market's on but there's nothing you'd actually want to buy there (unless cheap plastic shoes and clothes are a fetish). And it's pretty lively at any daytime hour.
Funky bars down the sidestreets, High-density chinese street up one end.

Goutte d'or: Senegalese and other West African stuff happens here. If you're whitey and you forgot for a moment, you'll remember here. Rue Leon has got a very cool bar in it called Olympic cafe where we saw an amazing Senegalese band. The best chip-butty/omelette roll is to be found nearby on Rue Leon too. They get a baguette, smear it with Moroccan style tomato sauce meets harissa and fry egg with chips on the grill. Feed 2 for 3.50! Locals are friendly, but you might feel a bit conspicuous walking around late at night, if you forgot.

Rue leon is so cool it even has it's own website:
http://www.rueleon.net/

There are heaps of shops piled high with 6 meter lengths of very colourful patterned batik fabrics. Assuming these were african imports, I expected them to be very cheap, but they are all made in Holland (and claim this proudly 'guaranteed real dutch wax') and seem to be made for export - perhaps people take them back home to Africa as presents? Didn't see that many people in Goutte d'or actually wearing this kind of thing. I bought a beautiful red and blue piece with fish on it for 12 euros (see photo). There were also ones with messages marking different historical events which were cool.

Strasbourg-St. Denis: a more mixed multicultural street (go through the fake-roman arch), between the two other areas, not as fun if you ask me.

Paris first-timer

An unglamourous photo of Paris: someone's got to show it as it really is!


Yes, shocking that it is, I'd never been to Paris until recently. It all goes back to a diplomatic stand-off between France and a certain country about French nuclear testing in the Pacific (something sobering to think about while enjoying French culture). This meant some visa-restrictions that caused trouble for 17 year old girls to enter Paris without parental permission. Maybe they were trying to cast aspersions on what the girls were planning to do in Paris. The only other place where I've seem restrictions on underage girls travelling was from Burma to Thailand.

Anyway, Paris for the newbie. This Paris metro interactive website is incredibly cool and what's more, will actually help you reach your destination, if you know where you want to go that is, which is not necessarily the case for the tourist (see above for some suggestions).

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/cv_en/carteparis.php

French-deaf? Well, I don't know if I can say this website helped me, but it was a lot of fun:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/lj/

Actually the French people spoke sounded completely different to what the charming Hakim speaks in the bbc videos, couldn't really make head or tail of it. But if you need the basics - like how to pick up a gay guy in a cafe - you'll find the phrases in the online bbc course.

Paris hammams

Every wondered what to do in Paris? Many people don't. They think there's too much to do anyhow. Well, when I was there I had the urge to do one thing - bathe. It turned out that hammams (Moroccan or Turkish style baths) are quite the thing there.
The Hammam de la mosquee de Paris one is easy to find and central. Most days are women only, apart from Tuesday and Sunday. It tends to be crowded which makes for a fun atmosphere. It attracts a mixed crowd so you won't feel like the only whitey.
The building is a type of fake Mosque, built by the French government apparently, to try and balance out the large number of churches in the city centre. Thus it is sort of a concrete replica of someone's generic idea of a mosque, and apparently not really used by any Muslim community. Regardless, it has a tastefully decayed atmosphere inside. Only a little light comes into the steam rooms, from small dirty sky lights. The innermost steam room is so full of such hot steam that you need to bend over to walk into it (the hottest steam goes from the ceiling down to about chest-height). Inside is a lovely cool water pool, worth crawling to.

Techincal details:
Bring friends and plenty of equipment (see http://liosliath.com/blog/?p=44 for some ideas), there's space to do your own scrubs and massage. The scrubs (gommage) given by the staff are rather short and not particularly enlightening. Everyone was wearing at least bikini bottoms, many wore tops too (French are prudish it turns out).
There's lots of info on the web about other hammams. Search 'paris hammam' and you'll see. I found some good info on the iwanttogotoparis blog, and there are millions of other local ones not mentioned in guidebooks or online. The Hammam des grands boulevards which is centrally located but unfortunately seems to have completely closed down. Be prepared for crowds on weekends and holidays. They can even get full by the afternoon and not take any more people. (Why aren't there any good sites about baths? - see http://spas.about.com/library/blguestarticles.htm for an example of a not-good site about spas - this is the biggest one I've found).