Ohh Metro- Tu me manquera ! (I will miss you)

The thing that I will miss the most when I return to the US (besides the wonderful people that I met) is the Public Transportation in France.
Here is the breakdown of my commute to work:

Commute by Public Transportation:
CiteU to St-Cyr = avg 1.1h one way= tram to train to bus to work
Weekly Navigo for 5 zones= 33 Euro (50.04$)*
Upfront cost of pass (one time) = 5 Euro (7.58$)*

Pros- With Navigo- you can go anywhere in Paris with the one pass (including all the way out to the airport and all the way to Versailles- which are in the 5th zone).. Essentially- it’s like having a “Fast Pass” and being able to use fast lanes in the metro stations.
It is geared towards commuters though- as you can only purchase weekly/monthly passes at the beginning of the week/month.
You can read/write/snooze/chat on the commute..
Cons- sometimes cannot get a seat during high commute hours (rare), sometimes you do not like (the smell of) the people sitting next to you (also rare ;)

Commute by car:
22km CiteU to St-Cyr = 26 minutes estimated driving time by Google (in a perfect world)
22km= 13.67 miles
Say you drive a car that gets 21 miles/gallon-
13.67/21= .65 gallons x 2 times a day= 1.3 gallons
1.3 gallons x 8.56 $/gallon ($/gallon Paris France Apr 2008**) = 11.13x5 days a week = 55.65$ (6 days= 66.78)
Just going to work (5-6 days a week) not including other rand and weekend excursions (groceries, entertainment, etc.)
(5) 55.65$ = 36.7 Euro*
(6) 66.78$= 44.03 Euro *

Pros- “faster” when there is no traffic (summer)
Cons- more expensive to own, maintain a car (not including tickets or accidents)

*1 Euro= 1.51 USD (10 August 2008, from Citibank N.A.)
**2008 http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm503658.html

Cinéma au Clair du Lune! 6-24 août

I discovered another great thing to do in the city ! I was running in my favorite parc across the street from CiteU, and I saw a banner for “Cinéma au Clair de Lune” presented by the Mairie de Paris (City Services). I thought about “quand j’etais petite” (when I was little), I used to watch movies outdoors at Greely Park, Nashua NH, in the summer with my parents and the Daniels (my other family :)
This event was different than the ones that I had been to in the States that are mostly for children. There were mostly adults- couples, groups and lone elders.. Not a huge crowd, maybe 100ppl watching “Agnes Browne” on a blow up projector screen.. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160509/ ) The introducer said that normally they watch French films, but this was a great film about another state in the European Union, Ireland.
So- It got dark just before 22h (10pm) and I arrived just in time for the introduction. The Forum des Images has put on these productions for the past 8 years in Paris. Each movie is shown outdoors at a different spot in the city (http://clairdelune.forumdesimages.net/.) I was lucky enough to stumble onto this one on the right night! Overall- a great movie, had the crowd laughing and – not crying, but nearly so :) The movie ended at 23h30ish and everyone gave a hearty, appreciative round of applause for the ciné gratuit (free movie).