Things I Have Noticed

I thought I should formalize a few of my observations.

• In cafes, very few people sit with laptops, at least outside - I've seen a total of one.  People sit together without talking.  Men sit in pairs, usually with one man their own age.  Women sit in pairs, usually with a woman much older or younger.  Couples sit together.  They eat or drink.  They read the newspaper.  Frequently they simply sit, nursing a beverage, watching the passersby.
• I see very small children with their families and teenagers in clumps.  I rarely see children over 5 with their families.  
• Women dress differently than women in New York.  Less makeup - and mostly eye makeup - and much less jewelry.  Far less exposed skin.  Total lack of concern for revealed bra straps.  And yet they always look impeccable, perhaps because of the simplicity.  Also, they carry smaller bags.
• There is a subset of men who are very aggressively friendly (with, obviously, no intention of actually being friends) toward women.  It is unclear to me whether they are targeting Americans - they always start out speaking in French - or if this is just how they are.  Needless to say, the subset does not include any men I would actually want to be friends with.
• Everything opens much later than you would expect.  Starbucks opens at 8.  Other cafes open mid-morning.  Museums open ten to thirty minutes after their official opening time (and close up to an hour earlier than the official closing time).  The book vendors on the quays don't open until after noon.  
• This is apparently one of the official periods of sales in Paris.  Prices are supposedly very high here but to my eye they seem to hit about the same range as New York, even before the sales.  I got a bag for 10 Euros for the purpose of being able to carry more than my shoulder bag holds without having a backpack.  It also fits my netbook, more or less.  For $13ish, I consider this a pretty good souvenir and a bag I would possibly have bought at home, as well as not really a serious investment.