30 January 2009, Friday—My return flight was at 11 am. The Roissy bus leaves every 15 minutes from near the Opera House and takes passengers to Charles de Gaulle Airport. The cost is €8,90. It was about a 20 minute walk from the hotel to the Opera, and having a comfortable backpack was an asset. Luckily the previous day's strike was over and the bus service and flights from Charles de Gaulle Airport were not affected.

Awaiting flight home
While waiting to check in for my flight I struck up a conversation with a woman on a similar trip, an American in Paris for a week to visit museums and see the sights. She stayed at the Hôtel Kensington near the Eiffel Tower. She said it was very reasonably priced and she had no major complaints. Nevertheless, the Hotel Louvre Forum worked out very well for me; it was close to the major museums, had very friendly staff who spoke English, had clean rooms and a toilet and shower in the room.

Final thoughts—Paris is a beautiful city. It's also a great walking city. There are few major pedestrian or bicycle barriers and it's possible to walk or bike everywhere. Vélib' is a very inexpensive and practical way to get around by bike. There are one (€1) or seven (€5) day subscriptions available. If you time your rides to last less than 30 minutes, there is no fee. It's possible to bicycle nearly everywhere in Paris in 30 minutes. A credit card with an electronic chip embedded is required. I used the American Express Blue card which worked fine. Most other U.S. cards will not work.

Parisiennes are a very fashion conscious people but their winter clothes seem to lack all color. They do not wear red coats, and among other things, my red rain jacket announced that I was not a local. I rarely care what others think about my clothes, but the contrast was so great that at times I wanted to blend into the crowd a bit more.

For me, one way to determine the beauty of a city is if I look around and want to sit and sketch my surroundings, which was the case nearly everywhere I walked or rode. It rarely happens in the U.S., usually in parts of large, older cities like New York, Washington, DC, or Philadelphia. Nearly every street is picturesque and I took many photos of simple street scenes. I'm anxious to return.

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