luckily monsieur tom has you covered Travel thread - #373 by Tom
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I have been for a week. Besides the obvious things you may already be planning on doing, I thought the catacombs were amazingly cool.
I thought Album comics was really cool for shop recs. I think on the gaming side I didn’t maybe explore as much but all the comic shops were great. I feel like they’re more into war gaming there for the tabletop side which is neat but not really my thing
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haha!! Incredible. I really enjoyed that movie! One of the few I’ve watched in the recent years. Thanks for the past-link. 
catacombs
Album comics
ty!
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We cancelled our trip to Montana/Yellowstone next month (got a full refund) because crossing the border was just stressing us out, especially considering my wife’s background. It’s a bit of a bummer, but instead we’ve decided to road-trip around Saskatchewan, exploring a couple national/provincial parks before finally seeing Regina on the way home.
I’ll let you all know how it goes in case any of you ever, for whatever reason, find yourself in this part of the world.
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I apologize on behalf of my country, sincerely.
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We’re still considering canceling our September Portland trip. Basically none of it is refundable between the Amtrack, concert tickets and even the hotel that we paid extra to be able to cancel. Turns out you need to have a travel advisory to the country or something else extreme like unforseen surgery. I’m not mad about the bait and switch.
Okay, I’m mad.
We’ll be out several hundreds if we cancel this and I really want to go to Portland so I dunno. Whole thing’s frustrating. It’s small potatoes compared to what the fascists are doing down there to others, but yeah.
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My Canadian friend wants to come down for my brother’s bachelor party in August but I’m not sure it’s a good idea. He’s also (whispering) not white. It’s tempting to just assume nothing’s going to happen to you, and statistically that’s probably true, but the fear is real considering what could happen if you do draw the short straw. So yeah fuck this idiot country 
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Sorry @brettch I didn’t see this message otherwise would have chipped in a few bits myself! I did mention in a post before some of the places to see and go to here: Travel thread - #373 by Tom so hopefully that’ll help a lot. @Garrett.exe mentioned Album Comics which is in the 5th and has at least four shops for different subjects - they do carry a small selection of English comics but most of their products are in French shockingly!
Honestly I’d skip the games shops as they are good but don’t really have anything that would wow you and they are expensive. If you had more time to visit I’d make the effort to go, but for two days go enjoy the city, eat drink and be merry!
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i have a very important thing to be at in chicago come june and im really, really stressed about risk. i have an X on my passport :/ all it would take is the wrong customs officer or the wrong bureaucrat and …
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That’s stressful. O’Hare airport does see tens of thousands of international travelers daily, there’s a good chance you won’t be the first X passport your customs officer has seen. I haven’t heard any stories of people being turned away yet, and just from a quick google it looks like there’s at least one report of someone going through without an issue.
It might be a good idea to reach out to the US Embassy about your travel plans? I know it’s a bummer to carry anything with binary ID but it might be safer to have as backup if you still have any.
sorry our country sucks so much :(
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thanks, yeah, that might actually be a good idea. i think flying into and out of pearson might offer me a break since that way all of the customs will be handled on the canadian side of the border… worst case they turn me away and i just take a train home… at least i hope so.
im sorry your country sucks so much! i worry a lot for my friends and comrades down there
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Paris Trip, Day 1
I write to you all from the back corner of a restaurant named Birdy that serves American food in Paris. It’s the only place nearby to where I’m staying that has anything vegan and is open right now. I got seasoned fries and they were yummy. They’re playing Puerto Rican music which is interesting (it’s Spanish music and regularly referring to PR).
Today is May Day/Labor Day so most things are closed. But that’s okay. I walked around. I found a large park on the west side of the city with a pond. I sat and watched people in the shade. It’s sunny and warm. I like walking around the city, it’s easy to navigate and Google Maps is a godsend for exploring.
I like how old everything is, and the architecture is very different than any American city I’ve been to.
I saw the tall tower which was fine I guess, I’m not so interested in that. But I’m glad lots of people were enjoying it!
The flight was miserable lol! I took a melatonin but couldn’t fall asleep which is worse than not being able to sleep without melatonin. My back hurt I guess from the awkward seats. I’ve never flown for so long. I was in such pain I couldn’t do anything other than listen to podcasts (I caught up on Insert Credit!) and just power through it.
Tomorrow my plan is to check out a different area of the city where there are comic shops, game shops, and music stores. Going to just bop around and hopefully find some good food and explore.
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Paris Trip, Day 2 Part 1
It’s 8:59am local time. It’s a perfect 64 degrees Fahrenheit. I’m sitting at a water fountain in the center of Tuileries Garden, which is next to the Lourve. I had no intention of being at the Lourve but here I am.
I started the day by hopping on the Metro. I got on the train and went in the wrong direction. I have no idea what differentiation of direction was present on the platforms. I looked and looked. Once I realized it I got off and went back in the other direction. One might think this is a language barrier issue but this has happened to me in NYC so maybe I’m just a train idiot.
My destination was what I’d call downtown/eastern Paris. I can’t tell you much more than that as I don’t know the neighborhoods or the numbered districts. There are a lot of vegan shops and book, record, and game stops. I thought it’d be nice to walk around and shop a little and explore. I’m a bit of a stinker when it comes to travel, I’m not too interested in touristy attractions. I feel self conscious taking photos of popular things too, unsure why.
My first destination was a vegan bakery named Land&Monkeys. Lots of things in Paris have strange names. Like a clothing shop named Hormone Culture. Or a person wearing a shirt named “I’ll Angel in the Snow Until I’m Worthy.”
Land&Monkeys was fantastic. I got a tomato and zucchini quiche. Maybe the first quiche I’ve eaten in about a decade as I’ve never found a vegan one out in the world. Whatever the egg was replaced with had the perfect texture and the crust was excellent. I had a croissant too because why not. I got a ginger kombucha which wasn’t as zippy as GT’s in the states but hit the spot. I am here for the zip in my booch. It was much better than the vanilla and mango kombucha I got yesterday. Finally, I got a cappuccino. I didn’t know what it was but drip cofffee was not an option. I stopped drinking caffeine because it was giving me anxiety and making me paranoid. So this cappuccino was a rare treat and I really enjoyed it. Basically a little coffee with a lot of some kind of plant milk.
I would return to this spot except there are other vegan bakeries to explore. A good problem to have. I’d imagine Paris is probably overwhelming with good food for a non-vegan. Lots of places to eat that look good.
A few observations on Paris:
- lots of cyclists and good bike lanes
- dog shit everywhere, about equal to Portland Oregon where I lived for 5 years and had more dog shit on the sidewalks than anywhere I lived before or since; I regularly stepped in it and am still bitter about it
- trash everywhere (see exhibit below); unclear if byproduct of Labor Day or tourists or what; more trash than NYC; I don’t mind it but I wasn’t expecting it and find it interesting; every trash bin is overflowing and so I guess people figure there’s no where to put my trash or it just blows around from the piles
- I haven’t seen a single truck on the road, I wonder if the French know how cool trucks are and that they’re even cooler when lifted many feet off the ground and/or the wheels are extended outward
- Not many MAGA folks which is refreshing since I am surrounded by them where I live. But I did see a French-MAGA equivalent which was a man walking with his wife and children wearing a red shirt with white text that read “I don’t need sex, the government fucks me everyday” which I can relate to currently but I think his sentiment is probably more libertarian-esque than rampant authoritarianism in the “land of the free”
- less beards than the US
- I haven’t seen a single American-made car. Lots of Pugeots. Which I didn’t know made cars. I had a pugeot road bike when I was younger that I got from my dad. It was a good bike.
Here’s an example of the trash. Very French trash.
At the Lourve, I asked an information person if I can get in and buy a ticket today. He laughed and said no. Fair enough. I have seen a lot of art in various museums throughout America and it’s fine. I like seeing the art, sure. Sometimes I get something out of it and it is inspiring creatively. But more often than not I’m not particularly moved by it. Contemporary and modern art is a bit more interesting. Armor sets are very cool. But anyway! If I can’t get in on the day of, then it’s not something I really want to do. My loss probably but that’s okay!
Yesterday I said “au revoir” when I entered a restaurant which has been my greatest shame of the trip so far. I keep also wanting to use Spanish which I only vaguely remember from 20 years ago. It helps that most French signs and words are pretty close to English and I can guess what they mean.
My next destination is a bunch of book stores nearby. There are even Book Offs, the Japanese chain. Curious what they’ll have there. Basically just killing time until lunch and wandering around. I am hoping I find some neat French comics and illustrations. We shall see.
Au revoir!
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Thank you so much for sharing your adventures in Paris. She’s a harsh mistress but a wondeful place to be, even during this violent canicule (heat wave). Your observations are quite accurate and always nice to hear about as I am always curious to know how people see somewhere from the outside in. If you do want French comics, Album is the best place as they carry a huge selection and have four different shops all very close to each other. The biggest is here:
67 Bd Saint-Germain, 75005 Paris, France
Enjoy yourself and bon courage !
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Paris Trip, Day 2 Part 2
It’s 12:58 local time. A sunny 76 out. Perfect in the shade, sweaty in the sun. I’ve accrued 13,095 steps so far. I’m outside of a vegan bakery named Cloud Cakes. It was probably 90 inside of this place. But outside is nice. I got grilled cheese which had red peppers and mushrooms on it with a small salad. And a ginger lemonaid, which for all intents and purposes may as well be kombucha. It was the best yet.
The food was delicious. My meal was interrupted by a delivery van honking its horn repeatedly because on this small side street a cop parked their car preventing larger vehicles from getting through. But the cop isn’t in sight. French pigs are still pigs. Multiple vans would get pissed and eventually get the nerve to hop up on the curb where patrons were eating and drive past.
My sit in the park was followed by a walk to bookshops and Book Off.
On the way, a group of young women asked me to sign a petition to help the deaf and blind near the park by the Lourve. They had cheap photocopied petition sheets affixed to cardboard. I signed it. And then they wanted a donation. I tried to give them some coins but they said 20 Euro min. So I gave them that. Then they wanted more. $20 USD. They kept talking about making change and such. So I said give me the euro back and you can have $20 USD. Which they swapped then kept asking for more. It was very very weird. I eventually came to realize this seemed very much like a scam. So I asked for my money back but they wouldn’t give it back. They were getting a lot of tourists. Kudos to them if a scam, it was NYC mixtape CD-levels of scam.
The first shop was Smith & Son, an English bookstore with great selection. I was primarily interested in their magazine section which had me envious of Europe’s apparent love of magazines.
French mag dedicated to manga/otaku culture. Really great design throughout. Nice paperstock. Has me fantasizing about doing a quarterly zine for games or manga with similar aesthetics.
I’ve never seen Sight & Sound in the states. Love WKW and In the Mood for Love. Good magazine, have been reading through it at cafes. Have heard of it through their poll. Wish I could get it regularly.
French mag dedicated to Lynch. Really thorough. Unbelievable this exists. Excited to flip through it.
Next up was Librairie Galignani just down the street. Lots of literature and art books. Half French, half English. Picked up some novels. They had a great selection of Japanese authors in English. Really nice hardcover Murakami editions I’ve never seen before.
I got to choose a pin at checkout, and the random one I selected was appropriate and funny. Had to get some Satre while in France I guess. And an Abe I’ve never read nor seen IRL. Love that cover of Goodnight Tokyo so will give it a try.
I moseyed on over to one of the Book Offs and got a chai latte on the way. Book Off was neat! Upstairs was all manga and some games and TCG and CDs and DVDs. I almost bought a L’arc en Ciel album I really like but decided against it. I bought a used copy of volume one of Monster Hunter Flash, which I don’t think came out in the US.
I wanted to buy this cheap Goenma (I think? Can’t remember) figure but having to explain to my wife why this adult man has a pacifier seemed like too much to bare.
France got the big editions of Biomega, which is out of print and unlicensed in the US currently, at least as of last year. Majorly jealous. Love Nihei. But did not buy because too heavy.
I then walked around the 2nd, which was nice. Found an arcade. No shmups nor games I wanted to play. Mostly just fun group type stuff. This one’s logo looks like a MonHun rip off:
French trash part 2:
My phone battery is quite low. I wish I came more prepared. Without it I probably couldn’t get back to my hotel. So that’s all for now!
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It’s interesting to know there’s a bunch of vegan options in Paris these days! I was there last in 2015 and it was bleak. But it’s good to know it’s not impossible now!
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Paris Trip, Day 2 Part 3
It’s 4:33pm. 81 degrees. 18,498 steps. In an Apple Store charging my phone as per idea from my wife. It’s air conditioned which is a big relief.
I spent the afternoon walking around Sorbonne, in the 5th district. It’s near Notre Dame. Weird they named a big building after the US university. Lots of people interested, assuming most are alumni.
The first stop was a game store aptly called Game Corner. Very tiny. An unreal amount of DBZ figures. Decent selection of games for all consoles. A lot of shmups, which was interesting. A guy came in and bought Raiden IV. Does Paris/Europe love shmups? Maybe. Nier for Xbox 360 was something like 60 euro. I about melted.
I did find and buy a copy of Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for PSP. I did not realize Freedom Unite is the expanded version of it, which I already own. 
It was 17 euro so not a huge deal. Will still give it a go! I’d like to own all of the MonHun games.
I then explored a street that was essentially all comic and manga shops. Incredible that there are shops selling just French manga. The title selection is incredible too, a lot of stuff not released in English. So jealous. Lots of French comics too. Didn’t buy anything print because I can’t read it and I’m pretty maxed out on books after the morning. But I did buy some Tintin toys for the kiddos as souvenirs.
I got some small anime trinkets. A blind box Hunter x Hunter, a Sasuke, and a HxH license (so cool!).
Blind box was Gon! I’m happy.
It’s a good time to be a One Piece and DBZ fan in Paris. There’s so much merch for them! It’s unreal. I’ve only read up to Skypeia in OP about a decade ago and enjoyed it but wouldn’t call myself a fan enough to buy merch. I was primarily on the search for HxH stuff. I found a Nendoroid Chrollo that was very cool but a bit too large for my small suite case.
I stopped into a Uniqlo which had some cool Gundam and GitS shirts. Also neat Mario Kart shirts if that’s your thing! Got this GitS one. Love Tachikoma!
I am 99% sure that Album Comics is the shop where they have a ton of awesome art books. Games and anime. Tetsuya Harada sketchbooks. Monster Hunter illustration books. A Meobius art book. All too heavy for me. But so awesome to see. France seems like a good place to be a comic/manga fan.
And finally, the river:
A few more observations:
- I’ve never once saw anyone wear the AirPods cans in the states. Not once. I’ve seen at least 30 people wearing them while walking around. Most headphone wearers are wearing cans instead of buds. Just really surprising.
- I greet everyone with “Bonjour” and then they speak to me in French which then I awkwardly say, I only speak English or just smile and nod and try to guess what they are saying. Unclear if I’m being respectful and they appreciate it or if it’s annoying
- I’d reckon 10x more public smokers than any US city currently, which I expected
- My wife confirmed the “donation” thing was a scam and another person in a different part of the city approached me asking me for a donation to which I said, I already gave earlier, thank you for your service; she smiled oddly back lol
- I tried to use one of the city bike rentals to ride around the city but it was unfathomable how to even use it; I went to their website which has an English option and it’s just got no useful info that I could understand
- I suspect that Paris is heaven for people who drink, like old buildings, like old art, like to shop, and like to eat; I basically only like to eat and I guess go to bookshops; it’s a good city for walking around tho, that’s been a blast
Traveling solo is a bit lonely! So it’s fun writing this little travel diary.
I’m not sure what’s next. Phone is at 80% now! Time well spent. I think I’ll find some dinner. And maybe see a movie or take a night bus tour.
Au revoir for now!
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Going off your posts, I like to think France is still on Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and are eagerly waiting Unite.
Also, until World, they’d do the regular release in Japan, and then do the Ultimate version worldwide like a year later. It was excruciating.
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First full day in Paris today. What a massive, cool, and interesting city. But why do all the bathrooms smell so bad???
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Y’all in Paris:
Go try that 3DS audio guide at the Louvre as it’s being discontinued in September 2025.
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