Has Paris changed in 30 years?  Sure.  Sometimes for the better.

I lived in France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the 70s.  I was in each country long enough to know how to get around the area and to be able to follow directions.  Last month I got to go back to Paris for the first time in 30 years.  A lot of things have changed and many have stayed the same.

The first thing I notice in Paris was that it smelled better.  I always remember the smell of Paris.  The Metro smelled of old sweat, urine and mold. The diesel smell from the buses and delivery trucks was so strong in the 70s you could choke from the fumes.  Then just when you thought you would not survive around the corner came the aroma of fresh bread.  Ahhh, the afternoon baking was finished and fresh Baggett and Croissant were ready. Many an afternoon I would grab a Croissant on my way home on the train.

Now buses are electric or hybrid.  They hold more people and run quieter.  The camions seem smaller and can fit in even smaller spaces than ever before.  In my opinion the Metro was cleaner.  My husband and son-in-law thought there was a great deal of litter.  However, I do not remember ever seeing a cleaning crew sweeping the streets 30 years ago.  Now every morning as we left the apartment, there were men in blue coats unloading equipment from the small truck.

There are now in Paris public toilets on the street.  They have an automatic cleaning feature and will serve an emergency very well. They have replaced the old toilets that were for men only.  Those old features were a corrugated circle that covered the essential parts of the gentleman.  The drainage always seemed insufficient and certainly added to the smell.

Parisians are still in a great hurry.  They want to get everywhere right now.  The afternoon Metro was very crowded.  Sometimes I thought there might be a pusher to get a few more people on board. What surprised me was not the young men jumping the toll gate.  I had always seen that.  Now there are inspectors in the train stations.  One evening we were checked twice in one trip on the Metro.  It seems they are after us tourists who come to Paris and don't pay any attention to where our tickets are after we verify them. The lessen was to keep up with your tickets.  I handed one inspector 3 canceled tickets in my pocket and he deciphered which one he needed.

Now buses are electric or hybrid.  They hold more people and run quieter.  The camions seem smaller and can fit in even smaller spaces than ever before.