First Impressions & Random Thoughts from Paris

~A list of impressions I made sure to write down~

·         The top 3 stereotypes I thought of as French were all disproved very quickly

1.       French people are rude – MYTH. I didn’t encounter a single rude French person. In fact I found them to be the nicest, most helpful people I have meet so far in Europe. I’ve got stories if you need proof!

2.       French people smoke all the time – I didn’t see it…

3.       Everyone walks a poodle –I didn’t see a single poodle in France = major disappointment.

·         The Eiffel Tower is the wrong color – shouldn’t it be gray, not brown?

·         Thank you Dad for sharing your impeccable homing pigeon skills and thank you Mom for teaching me how to read a map on our western trip- it came in handy!

·         I had been told the Mona Lisa is always a disappointment so I went in with very low expectations and I didn’t think it was disappointing at all. The opposite in fact. I thought it was very interesting to see in person, the painting was bigger than I expected, and the detail was amazing. She is definitely smiling; it’s just in the awkward smirking stage.

·         Hostels – not bad at all! I loved it

·         Brie cheese and wine in Paris – maybe we just got unlucky? Disgusting.  Bread=AHHHMAZING

·         Paris truly earns its nickname: The City of Lights. It absolutely glows at night, not to mention the brilliance of the sparkling Eiffel Tower.

·         Crepes = best invention ever. I got the basic sugar crepe but on our last day I spiced it up when we were in the Jewish Quarter and I got a banana and sugar crepe. Yummm

·         The Latin Quarter – The history behind the name is interesting. The university students, many from other countries, used Latin as their common language here up until 1900. It is a colorful, funky neighborhood on the Left Bank that houses on of my favorite places in Paris – Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore, where resident writers can sleep on one of the couches on the second floor if they get too tired to go home and interrupt the flow of words from their wavering pen. So cool. I could happily spend hours in this little crooked-floor, brightly painted bookstore. I bought Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. It seemed appropriate…

·         What I need to do next time: Night cruise down the Seine River, see a poodle, return to Shakespeare and Co. 

Please feel free to skip the next blog. It's huge and a more day by day account of my trip. Pictures are in the following post. Enjoy. 

I love and miss you all ~ At