Our village of Auteuil

We're living in a far-southwest neighborhood called Auteuil, in the 16th arrondissement, which years ago was a separate village. A 40-foot Statue of Liberty replica stands a step away on an island in the Seine. Now Auteuil is part of Paris and rather upscale, but it still retains its narrow curving central street and its simple character. No tourists here (in fact we haven't seen an American anywhere yet because we avoid the tourist areas), only well-dressed, well-behaved French people going about their day.

Out for coffee this sunny morning and past our humble but classic "traditional" bakery:

Here's a view of our building, probably pre WWII, and the little cars squeezed in on our quiet street:

Paris had a quarter-million people in 1328. Perhaps because so many have lived so close together for so long, people seem respectful of each other, to live similar lives, and even to dress in somewhat the same tasteful black. Always a scarf, often heavy and colorful. (It really does keep you warm!) One never hears them honk their horn or shout to a friend across a crowded restaurant. We may see their risk-aversion and reluctance to change as lacking in originality and individualism. They may see us as friendly, informal and outgoing but also loud, inconsiderate, devoted to a rather ruthless brand of materialistic capitalism, inflicted with a raging me-at-all-costs wild-west individualism, and mindlessly accepting notions of American exceptionalism that paint all others as second-rate. Doubtless there is truth in both views.

Of course we're experiencing not only a foreign culture but also life in a very big city, which would overwhelm us if it were New York or Chicago, not just Paris. Even so, here are some general impressions so far.

To many Americans, it's vaguely anti-patriotic to suggest that Europeans, and particularly the French, have anything to teach us. Yet our stay here suggests otherwise. Even in these distressed economic times, there's little to suggest Parisians want to abandon their social model which calls for high taxes but provides generous quality-of-life benefits for all (though that model will surely have to be modified). If everyone has easier access (than in America) to education through university, to what may be the world's best health care, to living-wage jobs at all levels, to streets which are both attractive and safe .. who's to say we shouldn't want the same? The waiters at coffee this morning were all mature men of a professional waiter caste who apparently make a decent living, life long. Your restaurant bill, of course, includes a 19% value-added sales tax and an automatic 15% tip to help make that possible. For that matter, everything here costs more, in part to enable more people to earn a living wage. People here apparently accept the fairness in that. Would we?

If jobs like that, which we consider menial, pay a comfortable living wage here, that may explain why one rarely sees an underclass called "the poor." Indeed, in our 20+ trips to 20+ European countries, it's hard to recall ever seeing slums or gangs of unemployed youths idling on street corners. Everywhere we've been, even in Turkey or Morocco, we've felt safer than at times on the streets of San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia or New York. Decades ago, Europeans asked us "why do you treat your blacks so poorly" and "how about all those homeless in San Francisco." Now of course they have increasing racial problems of their own, but still one senses a tradition of social cohesiveness that we've lost. You do see people offer up their seat on the bus to women and the elderly. In can vaguely suggest those myopic "good old days" of yesteryear in our own country when people enjoyed friends, family and community, desired the same things from life and could be considerate to each other.

Those are most certainly gross over-simplications. But for what they're worth, here are more. Europeans choose to pay handsome "up front" taxes but down the road (compared to us) they pay less for prisons, for untreated chronic illness, for crumbling infrastructure, for emergency food and housing for the poor, for combatting public violence and high infant mortality, and for the debilitating effects of failing schools and inadequate public health in chronically poor neighborhoods. They agree (compared to us) that it's wise to restrict gun ownership and the corrupting influence of money in politics. To them, government is not the enemy. They willingly fund far-flung public transit and public TV/radio, they regulate their environment and business climates to protect the little guy, and they band together to maintain social cohesion. There's far less income inequality here, where most enjoy four or five weeks paid vacation a year. They may be unable (or more likely unwilling) to drive their car to the supermarket, so they shop nearly every day, often at an outdoor fresh-produce market that's been there for decades, bringing home only what they can carry. Hence they eat fresher, more enjoyably and to better health than we do. Rarely does anyone look overweight and never obese. I'd bet few Parisians would change places with us.

More experienced travelers (including our son and wife who recently lived here for two years) would doubtless disagree with much of the above social-gospel epistle. Nonetheless, be assured that France is not populated by militant, hostile Socialist pinkos who never bathe. Indeed, the only B.O. I've encountered lately may well have been my own   :-)