Robin Camille Davis
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Hôtel de Ville — Neuilly-sur-Seine

January 30, 2009
Tags: books, gorgeous, paris

I walk past this majestic building every day! When I took this photo, I'd just missed the lovely Christmas decorations. They had boughs and glass balls all over the building. It was quite lovely.

Hôtel de Ville means town hall. This is where Sarkozy worked when he was mayor (maire) of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1983-2002 (ouf). For some reason, every afternoon it's a Stroller-fest outside the Hôtel de Ville. All the nannies of Neuilly chat on the benches while their charges race each other on their Razors. Razors, which were "in" for about 10 minutes in the US, are still hugely popular here. Their staying power is due to the fact that Parisians actually walk around instead of driving everywhere. So scooters, en fait, are useful! I even saw a man in his 50s scootering along the sidewalk, carefully avoiding the dog poo, which rivals Razors in omnipresence.

Anyway, no manifestation photos yet because I left my camera at Deven's. I thought that carrying my laptop and books and camera would have been too heavy. This must have been a premonition, since the lift in my building, which already terrifies me (see below picture and imagine going up 7 floors in such a tiny matchbox), decided just to make clunking noises and not actually go anywhere. So I walked up 8 flights of stairs, something Deven has to do multiple times a day since he too lives on the 8th floor, though he doesn't have an elevator, not even an alarmingly lightweight and slightly smelly one.

Sorry for my longwindedness and run-on sentences. I've been reading Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, and you know how the British do love to ramble on. I really want to speak like an old British lady. "Be a love and put the kettle on. One does get so cold at night when one's radiator is broken, dulling. Ta!"