I love Paris because of its inconvenience.

I went to Paris for the first time in about 10 years.  I have to admit that I needed some courage to go there because I thought flying more than 10 hours would have been tiring for my age.  However, the excitement of seeing my old friends overrode my anxiety and consequently, my trip was wonderful.

Almost everyday I hung around town with some of my friends, visiting museums and enjoying window shopping.  It was very interesting just to take a stroll in Paris.  As I walked around and gained a recollection of locality, I noticed that there were very few convenience stores in town as there were ten years ago.

In Tokyo, I’m sometimes disappointed to find out that my favorite shops have been taking over by convenience stores.  Even in Aoyama, convenience stores are invading main streets, needless to say the back streets.  I’m afraid so many convenience stores will diminish the character of areas and make them all the same. 

Small original retailers seem to still be very active in Paris.  Bakeries, spice and grocery shops, delicatessens, cake shops, boutiques and cafes make Paris exactly what it is.  They shouldn’t be replaced by convenience stores even if it is bit inconvenient.  

Having said that, I’m not an inconveniest.  One thing I’m sick and tired of in Paris is the subway stations.  They still haven’t installed escalators yet.  Moreover, passengers are always waiting in line in front of the ticket machines because there are so few of them.  Even if they improve these things, I don’t think that Paris would lose its splendor.

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