Paris

I got to use my limited French skills to navigate around Paris. We crossed from UK via the catamaran to Calais. The white cliffs of Dover on the British side were remarkable. Calais is a beautifully manicured city with a huge cathedral decorated with tons of flowers. The sandwich I got there tasted way better than what I was used to in the US, I think probably due to better quality butter and mayonnaise, among other things.

We took the train to Paris, but due to Easter holiday, some trains were canceled, so it took me some trouble to get the right ticket to Paris from the ticket agent who only spoke French. We took the TGV high speed train, which was virtually silent. The ride was so comfortable you hardly feel that it's moving. The doors operate automatically when you try to push/pull the latch, a very user-friendly and intuitive design that doesn't require instructions in any language or even graphic instructions.
 
Visiting Paris was fun (Louvre, Tuilleries gardens, Sacred Heart Cathedral on Montmartre hill). It's a city with a lot of energy, the city has a grandeur that I haven't experienced anywhere else. Buildings block after block were beautifully decorated, the royal buildings in the center were overwhelmingly grand, the Champs Elysees axis from the Louvre through the Tuilleries to the Arc de Triomph has no equal. I do have some complaints, one is that there are too many irresponsible dog-owners; two is that the metro is rather drab and has too much of an industrial feel; three is that the suburban architecture look much cheaper. It seems to me that when the French make something utilitarian, they are very good at saving as much money as possible; some forms of modern architecture seem intended to make cheap structures look interesting, for example, Charles de Gaulle airport was rather depressing.