MIA in Wonderland: 15e Arrt.

This arrondissement is, for lack of a better word, ghetto. The buildings are worn down, old, and not classically made. The restaurants are old and missing the big
crowd of hungry folks. The maintenance of the grass and gardens are very poor and it feels very dirty. We went here with Ling Ling and Andrea after the Itale Deux, it was definitely a downgrade—even though the 13er is also pretty rough. We found a hotel called the Art Hotel for 79€ a night which is pretty normal pricing, although because of location, it seems kind of overpriced. It did look cool, but there was very little around it to really add any draw. The market prices were also moderate at 1.55€ for milk, 2.76€ for eggs, and 22.95€/kg for the steak.

Besides my harsh opinion, this arrondissement wasn’t all bad. We went to a cemetery called Vaugirard Cimetiere, which was similar to the one in the 14er arrondissement, but this one was smaller and less well maintained. I did, however, see one of the very coolest things I ever saw in Paris here. While we were wondering through the tombstones, we saw a man actually engraving a name into the stone! He didn’t have any time of machine just his hands and his tools. First he outlined what he wanted to say with some sort of chalk and then followed it with his chisel and brick. The precision was amazing and very authentic. I was so excited to see this! I had no idea that the names were still hand graved to this day. It makes me sad that America is so advanced sometimes because it lacks the pricelessness of a mans genuine hard work and elbow grease. Last, and least, we sought to find a church suggested by Google maps for our tourist attraction. After wondering through odd streets, we finally found a small and extremely underwhelming “church”. It looked like a parking lot for a motel in Vegas. There was the parking lot, a little man made garden on the pavement growing onto the tin wall of the reception mobile home, and a small little pier with a cross on it. Needless to say, this arrondissement was not my favorite. While making out way back to the metro, we stopped to get drinks at Mo Mo Prix. The front door had a painting of a man with a wife on each arm. Being from Utah, obviously we took a photo. Just for that and the engraving, it was worth it.