Our last night in Paris

 

"Let's not go to bed tonight, then maybe we won't have to go home tomorrow." That was how I felt and what I told Katie as we said our goodbye's to the Eiffel Tower. It was Katie's idea that we go to Paris, I wasn't so sure because I had heard that it was a dirty city, that the people were rude and the lines to get into anything where awful. But Katie wanted to go and spent her full ten days of leave there, so of course a mother can't say no.
   We had four months to prepare and get ready, so prepare I did. It had been twenty five years since I had taken a French class, so my husband bought me the Pimsleur conversational French audio set. Every day I worked on my French until I left, I also downloaded French music, watched French movies, and used YOUTUBE  to learn even more French, found and followed blogs of people who live in France, and even FB sites like 'Paris Pass', my favorite site is: http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com.
   I researched the do's and don'ts, tried to learn as much as I could so not to insult or anger anyone while on their soil.
   Now, I'm not for sure if it was all of the above things or what, but.....I LOVED PARIS! We had the best time and found the people absolutely wonderful. We had no trouble getting into places, and didn't find the city dirty at all! Maybe it was the time of year, who knows? When I travel to foreign countries I don't expect or even want them to be like America, that is the reason to go. Yes bathrooms can be VERY different, but I always carry my own packets of Kleenex just in case and you have to remember that some countries are poverty stricken, or maybe the area is hundreds of years old.  I like to camp too and I have seen and used some interesting sites here at home. When I've gone to amusement parks, professional sport games, Disneyland, etc. I have stood in lines for quite
 some time. Yet, I found most of everything in Paris just the same for wait times. So there was nothing disappointing to me.
   I wish I could actually go live in France for a few months so I could travel to see more of it. In fact my husband and I decided that every time we go to Europe we will stop in Paris for a few days, because even after ten days there I still didn't get to see everything Paris has to offer.