Ladee's Travels

I arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport early. Very early, actually. And I am glad I did. I have to give CDG credit. Much of the departure process was impressively organized and automated. Check-in was efficient, the various checkpoints were clearly managed, and for an airport handling an enormous number of international travelers, everything seemed to move with purpose. But getting through the airport and actually reaching the airplane turned into quite the journey. First came immigration. There was a line, of course. I worked my way through it and thought, “Good. That’s done.” Not quite. There was another immigration line. Through that one, and surely now I was getting close to my gate. Eventually I reached the gate area, only to discover another line to actually get through the gate. Boarding pass checked, another clearance completed, and I thought this must finally be it. Nope. Instead of walking down a jet bridge onto the airplane, we were directed onto a shuttle. And not...

  Leaving Paris Before Paris Wakes This morning began in darkness. I was up early, packed, and saying goodbye to my Paris room while much of the city was still asleep. There is something completely different about Paris at this hour. The streets that had been filled with pedestrians, café tables, shoppers and conversations only hours earlier were quiet and nearly empty. Outside Le Relais des Halles , the warm lamps of the hotel glowed against the dark façade. A taxi waited at the curb, and within minutes I was on my way to Charles de Gaulle Airport . The nighttime streets gave me one final view of Paris, illuminated by streetlights and storefronts, with relatively few businesses open and remarkably little traffic. That lack of traffic made the trip wonderfully easy. No crawling along the périphérique. No worrying about whether I had allowed enough time. Paris simply slipped past the windows as we headed toward the airport. The Mystery of the €65 Taxi I had it in my head that t...

  Paris in Pixels: When the Walls Become an Art Gallery One of the pleasures of walking through Paris is remembering to look up . The city’s pale stone walls are not merely backgrounds for architecture. They have become an enormous, constantly changing outdoor gallery. I came across this wonderful collection clustered around a window: a red heart tied with what looks like a ribbon, a wonderfully graphic eye, a small green-and-black creature, and, most conspicuously, a large green-and-white pixelated alien. Even the black-and-white piece disappearing around the corner seems to be participating in the conversation. At first glance, I wondered whether they were all the work of the famous Paris street artist Invader . They are not necessarily, and that makes this photograph considerably more interesting. The artist who started an invasion The best-known name associated with this style is Invader , the pseudonymous French artist who began installing ceramic mosaics around Pari...

  Trash Talk in Paris: A Front Desk Conversation Turns Into a Business Idea One of the things I enjoy most about traveling is talking with people who actually live where I am visiting. You can research municipal systems and read official explanations, but sometimes you learn far more by simply asking a local, “So, how does this really work?” Today, that question was about trash.  I had been curious about how Paris handles the enormous amount of household and business waste generated every day. So I struck up a conversation with the gentleman at the front desk of my hotel. He explained it from the perspective of someone who lives here. From the Apartment to the Street In a typical Paris apartment building, residents don’t necessarily wait for “trash day” the way many Americans do. Buildings have designated areas with large bins, often tucked behind doors or inside a courtyard or service area. When you have trash in your apartment, you take it downstairs and put it into th...