Paris Smells

There are some really bad smells, like cigar or cigarette smoke drifting back from someone walking in front of you.  Like bus exhaust when you are crossing a busy street and weaving through idling traffic.  Like human urine as you pass by a couple homeless people camped on the sidewalk.  Pee is seriously a nasty smell when you get a good whiff of it.  Sophie and I sat next to a man in a Metro station with bulky bandaged feet and barely enough energy to raise his head to look at us.  The smell of urine was so strong, I almost keeled over.  Sophie just looked at the man with wide, serious eyes.  I didn't want to move for some reason.  Like I didn't want to deprive the man of some dignity, whatever he had left.

There are also some amazing smells in Paris.  You come through patches of terrible stench, and then a cloud of heaven will waft over you like sweetness and softness and joy.  You look around and notice a bistro selling fresh crepes or, like by my Metro station near the Moulin Rouge, a Haribo candy stand with all the bonbons you could ever imagine PLUS a cotton candy maker!  Mmm, it almost makes having a nose in Paris worth it.

Sooner or later I'm going to eat one of those gigantic strawberries...