Drownout France

From Shanghai to the Moon

Back in Paris. November 16.

Can leaving a city you're only visiting give you perspective on it? I can now definitively answer this question.

After 5 and 1/2 months in Paris, I took a little 2 week sejour to the States. Mostly New York, and a bit of DC and NJ. What a lovely time of year to be in the US Northeast (leaves changing, that sort of thing).

So here's the nutshell: I was a bit nervous on the plane, sitting behind some grossly overweight, loud-talking boors. Is this my America?

The relief was in NY. It ain't the same place it used to be. Arriving to Terminal 4 at JFK is like a miracle, like arriving in Tokyo. But it's also old: old friends, my neighborhoods, LIRR, the 1 line. No more 9 line. Steams up your glasses. NY is A-OK.

So now one last amiable month in Paris before a hero's return to NY.

Posted by amol at November 17, 2002 11:47 PM