morning by morning: I live in the 20th arrondissement

Paris is a micromanaged city. On most fronts, this is a good thing: it's very easy to identify where anything is located by stating its arrondissement, every area has a cute name which identifies it as unique and interesting and there is excellent public transportation-you're never more than about a 4 minute walk from a metro station. But, in some ways I think it's a little much. This city, which is only about 8 miles east to west, is divided into 20 administrative municipalities, called arrondissements. People speak of everything in terms of arrondissements, as if each is its own city. So, for a while I thought being that two arrondissements away from something indicated a pretty significant distance. Then I got lost with a friend walking around one day and landed four arrondissements away in about 20 minutes and realized the dense and intricate map is on a much smaller scale than I'm used to for american cities. Yet each arrondissement has its own EVERYTHING including a large, beautiful mairie building where the administration goes down. Maybe micromanagement is why everyone has time for a 2 hour lunch in this city.

Paris by arrondissement. starts in the center and spirals out, like a snail's shell.

Anyway, I live with my host family in the last arrondissement, the 20th. My metro stop is Gambetta, which is also the name of my quartier, or neighborhood. It's pretty great and fitting. Being further out, rent is less expensive and thus attractive to students, immigrants and artists. My elevator rides attest to this. This lends to there being a lot of art, dance, music studios and theaters around, often with diverse cultural offerings. And lots of diverse eateries. Mmm. Right now I'm a little sore at the theater on my block because I got my keys stolen there this Saturday, but I can't deny that it's a pretty tight spot. Plus I got my keys back.
Probably the most famous sight in the 20th is the Cimetiere du Père Lachaise. I have yet to spend much time there-I actually got chased out last time because I was running, oops- but I plan to hang out there more when the weather lightens up a bit. Some famous graves include Chopin, Balzac, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Richard Wright. Oh, here's a wikipedia list if you want to read more of the names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Père_Lachaise_Cemetery. There's a lot in there.

I also spend a lot of time in the 19th in the the Parc des Buttes chaumont, cause it's the nearest park that is good for running. Wrapped around a hill (butte), the park was designed in the anglo-saxon, as opposed to traditional french, style which may be why it reminds of New York City. Aldona told me that. Here are some photos of the area: