Home from France

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 22:28:35 -0700

Well, I am home from France. It was a bitter sweet ending to a wonderful trip. I was so sad to leave, I loved (most) everything about Paris. But I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back where people speak English and back in my own bed. I will be the first to admit that I am no good at other languages, and this trip was hard. But people were nice, despite the stereotypes. True, I probably just didn’t understand their insults as they walked away, but what I don’t know doesn’t hurt me. And no one gave me wrong directions or anything.

I loved Paris though. It was cold, but such a nice wonderful change. And I’m sure it wouldn’t have been such a shocking change if I lived there and it was a bit more gradual. Kind of like why you don’t leave Arizona in July...if you miss any part of the two-four week transition into the 120 degree weather you might as well not come back until October. We even had snow in Paris! It was beautiful. Of course the two days the my parents wouldn’t let me leave the apartment because I had a cold...I could have lived without that. But it was either that or my Dad was going to send me home early. And I was really sick.

The subway/metro system in Paris, all of France for that matter, is amazing. It would be go great it the US could have something like that. I know we claim to...but it is nothing as extensive or useful as what other countries have, and until it is the US population will continue to be reluctant to use it. Which is so sad. It would be wonderful to not have to drive everywhere. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have a car, but I would love to be able to get to work on public transportation. Mainly because it is a really good excuse to be late! And it sounds so much more stress free then driving home in rush hour traffic. I am excited to try the new light rail system here though. It isn’t nearly enough yet, but I’m hopeful.

The French culture is very different then ours. They eat dinner very late, restaurants don’t open for dinner until 7. And then because they have eaten so late, they basically don’t have breakfast. And everything closes for about 2 hours at lunch, sometimes even the lunch places close. That is one I don’t get! But it would be nice to have a relaxing lunch sometimes. I do envy that. The whole relaxing thing...the US should adopt that, just a little.

I don’t know how to sum up my entire trip to France. My Dad wrote a journal (click here), but it is my Dad’s opinions and not always my own, and sometimes has too much detail for my liking. I will probably go back and add a few entries to this journal on various days to capture my view of the events, and stories that I wish to share. Click here if you wish to read these from the beginning of my trip. There are some photos in my photos album, but all of the good photos can be found here or with descriptions on my Dad’s website.

Bits and Pieces of my Life

Home from France