Paris

Heading into this trip, a mix of major sightseeing and cultural experiences were my main focus, and between the men's hair combs, chocolate mousse, walks on the Sienne (almost to the point of tumbling into ;) ) and Canal St. Martin, oohing and ahhing at the picturesque ambience, and a hint of French nail glamour, I can tell you that Lauren and I's time in Paris has been quite a whirlwind. For the amount that we've experienced in the past 2½ days, we've really had the epitome of "efficient fun" and a great start to my big adventure.

To elaborate on some of the examples I gave above, we've had a few pretty amusing, in a somewhat absurd kind of way, people watching experiences that I think provide a great glimpse into French culture, and I wish I had my camera out to capture the moments! But I'll just explain them to you:

1. On 2 separate occasions, one walking down the street and on another on public transit, we turn to see a somewhat elderly, neatly clad French man whip out a comb and quickly fix his hair. It was so unexpected. 

2. The cutest little 2 year old you've ever seen, with a scarf, sweater, and shiny shoes, learning to kick a soccer ball with her glamorous mother in a park in the Marais neighborhood.  

3. A trendy teenage girl in ripped overalls, tights, red shiny flats, and a black leather jacket playing with a yoyo thing on a neighborhood sidewalk.

4. A young couple loading their clothes into a coin laundry machine but also looking ready for a night out (quite a step up from my AOII fleece usually covered with lint that I wear while doing laundry) 

For all of these, we couldn't help but smile in an "of course" kind of way at how put together the French are in every situation and at every age.

If you're wondering about the sights we've seen, I'll tell you we saw the stunning light show of the Eiffel Tower at night, the Arc De Triumph, the Notre Dame Cathedral (from the outside), the Sacre Creux with its panoramic view of the city, and the mesmerizing impressionist art at the Museum D'Orsay, and we walked through the Marais and Jewish Quarter (best falafel of my life), the mar, and along the Seinne and Canal St. Martin with its street art. It's been quite an amazing time!

And also if you're wondering what it was like at the time of the shooting at Notre Dame, I'll tell you we were pretty alarmed. A couple hours earlier that day, the fire alarm had gone off while we were in the Museum D'Orsay, and an eerie feeling subsided over me. Later, we were actually on the metro on our way to Notre Dame right after the shooting (not knowing) and the metro stop was blocked by police, so we got off on the stop before. The area was was swarming with police, so we were trying to leave to catch an Uber home (still not knowing what was going on), and when an officer finally told us "same as London" in broken English, we beelined in the opposite direction as Notre Dame and finally caught an Uber home in the pouring rain. It was all pretty disorienting.

Overall, Paris has been an unforgettable city and we've had an amazing time here with only the one minor hiccup, and I'm excited to head to Toulouse and Nice now! Let me know if you have any questions and stay tuned for more to come.