Surprising things about Paris

Things that surprised me about Paris:

• There are far more pigeons and other birds than I expected. Even yesterday inside the train station, Gare Montparnasse, I was amused to see a pigeon waddling busily along.
• There is graffiti everywhere, even at the tops of buildings where it's hard to see how it got there. 
• The Eiffel Tower is brown. I guess I had been expecting a steely gray.
• People eat outside even in chilly weather, and cafes and restaurants often have some kind of heater mounted at the top of a pole to make it comfortable outside.
• When I was walking through my neighborhood Saturday or Sunday morning, I was surprised at how intimate a place it seemed; I kept hearing the clatter of plates from open windows and sidewalk tables, which made it seem like I was walking through a huge dining room.
• For an urban environment, the parts of Paris I've walked through seem fairly green. I knew from the map that there are parks and grassy squares all over the place (and I really enjoy that), but it wasn't until after I got here that I could see all the flower boxes and roof-top gardens.
• This last one is not exactly a surprise, but it seems worth mentioning. Until I went to Versailles yesterday, I have seen no big parking lots or garages. There are cars, certainly, but people seem to park them in closed-off courtyards and underground parking garages. You may not even be aware of parking in an area until you see a car emerging from someplace unexpected.