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India Unbound
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India Unbound Click here to send Parler Paris to a friend… Express Yourself. Click here to comment on Parler Paris… Monday, February 19, 2007 ====================
With your subscription, you can participate in our FREE one hour Conference Call on Sunday, March 11, 2007 at 7 p.m. Paris time. If you’re in Paris, you can also join us for a one-and-one-half hour Group Consultation on Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. Both the Conference Call and Group Consultation are hosted by Adrian Leeds and the French Property Consultation Team. For more information visit /frenchproperty/insider Or click here to subscribe now! frenchproperty/insider/members/signup.php ==================== Dear Parler Paris Reader,
The headline on today’s paper and the intense stare of the young child begging at our car window couldn’t have expressed our sentiments better. Less than 24 hours from the time our Air France 747 landed at Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi, where thousands of new arrivals waited in line for over an hour to pass through passport control, did we discover that the chaos, extremes, ironies, dichotomies and sensory overload was to what we would become accustomed. Our host hired a driver, first to pick us up at the airport and another to chauffeur us all around Delhi the first day, neither of which spoke any English. Staying at a B and B in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, at 1:30 a.m. after a long day of travel, we passed shanties, crumbling buildings, construction sites, modern skyscrapers and mega-malls silhouetted by undernourished cows, wild dogs and rickshaws. It was all a bit frightening for our first 30 minutes in India. There are no words to describe the intensity of life in a land as contrary to France as India. On the roads and highways, bikes, motorbikes, rickshaws, both manual and motorized, cars and trucks of all sizes blend haphazardly with humanity. Men have their hair cut roadside in front of mirrors hung from trees. A man bathes himself in front of a sea of motorized vehicles under a veil of dense pollution. Beggars approach the car at stop lights with the most pathetic of offerings, stories and gestures. While our hearts pour out and we want to reach into our wallets for a few rupees, we know that once we surrender, we will be harassed by many more…so we try not to look back and deny their very existence, as everyone else seems to do. Within moments traveling along the roads in bumper-to-bumper chaotic traffic, the landscape can easily change to the most poverty stricken shanty-towns to the most elaborate and beautiful monuments and perfectly tended gardens. On the grass surrounding the India Gate, the children are taught to defecate while shoes must be removed to enter the lotus flower shaped Baha’i House of Worship. Women are dressed elaborately in stunning silk crepe saris and Punjabis (Indian casual wear), wearing glittering bangle bracelets and delicate shoes while riding side saddle on the back of motorbikes. The advertising along the roads and on the buildings would make Madison Avenue shutter – tag lines such as “Adding Colour to Your Life is a Good Idea” (for what product I don’t remember) and “Hi, I’m Pooja. I am buying a home in Gaur Grandeur because it is very special”– I loved this one best of all. A “Bollywood” movie was being filmed while we visited the Mehrauli Archaeological Park which houses the Quth Minar, the world’s highest single tower (and we thought it might be the Eiffel Tower!). Under the domed arches of the ancient temples, w hile visitors strolled among the ruins, businessmen talk on cell phones – almost everyone has one. A flutist charmed a cobra right out of his basket and when he didn’t perform on cue, the well trained snake got a smack on the head. Dogs are kicked when misbehaving, yet we found the people of India extremely friendly, polite, soft spoken and particularly gentle. At the INA market where hundreds of stalls are crammed under a ramshackle roof in a maze of alleys offering everything from spices and foods to clothing and frivolities, the merchants are assertive about getting you in their “doors,” but are willing to bargain for less than half of their starting price. For 400 rupees, less than $10, we purchased two three-piece outfits, embroidered with gold threads and equipped with sew-on sleeves. The shopkeepers were ready and willing to be photographed, smiling broadly for Erica’s camera and anxious to see the results on the tiny screen. Not for a moment did it feel dangerous, although we were warned about pickpockets. I joked to our host that we were quite familiar with pickpockets in Paris – about the best in the world. Delhi wouldn’t seem too threatening and it didn’t. Our first meal in Delhi was only after a preparatory dose of Pepto Bismal to coat our virgin stomachs at a traditional Indian restaurant along Connaught Place, named Volga’s. It was filled by 95% businessmen drinking large bottles of beer and is appointed by dark red velvet chairs with back cushions in the shape of hearts. For 500 rupees, about $11, we savored four vegetarian dishes, garlic naan, mineral water and chai tea. At the large circular town center designed and built by Robert Tor Russel to honor the British Empire, we spied a man relieving himself in the Ladies latrine, guards standing watch at the automatic tellers and hawkers promoting free maps of the city if you’d just step inside their travel agency doors. Erica never took her fingers off the camera trigger, attracting would-be models wherever we went. She downloaded almost 400 images taken in less than 24 hours and we talked all day about the lack of logic anything made. So unlike La Vie Française, where every detail is so precise and every landscape so pristine, nothing seems to follow a sense of order of any kind. Perhaps by the end of our twelve day stay, we will have put all the pieces of the Indian puzzle together. Tomorrow begins four days of wedding ceremonies before we head to the cities of the Golden Triangle to see what more of India has to offer that France has not. For the moment, our vision is…as the newspaper reported…unbound. A la prochaine…
Adrian Leeds Express Yourself. Click here to comment on Parler Paris… P.S. The charming “Le Provençal” Studio is still available from March 19 – 27 and May 1 – 6. Photos and more details, are available here: /parlerparis/apartments/rentals/provencal.html
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==================== This Week in French Property Insider…
Learn how to buy property in France. French Property Insider is an e-mail newsletter from the editors of Parler Paris. Learn all the insights, recommendations, and discoveries about buying and investing in real estate in Paris and France that French Property Insider readers get every week. To learn more, visit /frenchproperty/insider or go directly to subscribe at /frenchproperty/insider/subscribetofpi.html ==================== We cover specific, niche-interest topics that are difficult to find anywhere else. Get an insider perspective on Restaurants… Making a Life… Black Culture… Expat Writers… For more information, visit http://www.insiderparisguides.com ====================
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Welcome to your home in Paris. Home is how you will feel in a private apartment in Paris that has the “seal of approval” from Parler Paris Apartments and me, Adrian Leeds. Parler Paris Apartments offers high quality accommodations to make your stay in the City of Light as enjoyable and memorable as possible. We at Parler Paris know each and every apartment owner or manager personally, and stand behind the quality of those we represent. We understand your needs and desires, all the small details that make a rental apartment a warm and welcoming home – and a much better alternative to an impersonal hotel! Parler Paris Apartments is administered and serviced by the same great team as Parler Paris, French Property Insider and French Property Consultation. You can trust that Parler Paris Apartments and all those with whom it is associated will do their best for your 100% guaranteed satisfaction.
Located in a very charming and quiet 18th-century building in the heart of Le Marais, this sunny studio is perfect for one or two seeking ultimate Parisian calm, flavored with the beautiful colors of Provence. Available March 19 – 27 and May 1 – 6. Pictures and more details available here: /parlerparis/apartments/rentals/provencal.html
In a charming Parisian style building, this superbly furnished studio, wonderfully decorated with a mix of French provençal with Italian florentin style furnishings and antiques, will suit all the needs for 2 people who want the typical Parisian experience in the heart of Le Marais. Available now until March 3, and March 10 – 31. Pictures and more details available here: /parlerparis/apartments/rentals/florentin.html ====================
The next gathering is March 13, 2007 So mark your calendars to be sure not to miss it! See /parlerparis/apresmidi.html for more details. ==================== MARAIS LOCATION AT
Come out and celebrate the 9th Anniversary of the Menu: Kir, Confit de Canard, Gratin Dauphinois, Salad, Moelleux au Chocolat, Wine and Coffee Plus, take advantage of these special anniversary prices: 12 SESSIONS FOR THE PRICE OF A 10-SESSION CARD Reservations: ====================
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WHAT YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE THE SIGNATURE OF A MUTUAL AGREEMENT (PROMESSE OR COMPROMIS DE VENTE)… According to article 1589 of Civil code: “A promise of sale is equivalent to a sale, when there is mutual consent of both parties on the matter of the thing and the price.”
Insider Paris Guides are a series of electronically published, downloadable guides about Paris and France written by journalists and writers who live and work in, and love, Paris. 
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