Well Tim and I have made it back from Paris; we are now in a small town called Yeovil, Somerset GB it is about 2 hours south of London. Boy did we have an interesting time in Paris. I have to be honest and say this was my first experience in a European country and I don't think I was truly prepared for it. Tim and I did enjoy ourselves, we saw all of the sights; the weather was amazing. But I feel like I must start this post by pointing out some of the major differences that Tim and I encountered. And I am no way implying that these where bad or good they were just different then what I am use to in the States.
1. Women in Paris
Watch out American women..... the women in Paris our beautiful, thin border line skinny. I was amazed at how all of the French women looked. I don't think that I am a huge person but I know that I an not a size 6. But looking at all these women make be feel like a size 22. I am telling you Tim and I did a lot of people watching and I had a really hard time finding a women in the crowd that was bigger then a size 6. I mean really all these people eat is bread and lots of it, how are they staying so thin? And for the most part they were all good looking with great fashionable cloths.
That is another thing about these women, that have great clothes and anything I mean anything goes for clothes. I saw all kinds of interesting outfits. Some I really like and some I wouldn't be caught dead in. They have streets lined with designer clothing stores. I did go into some of them, but everything was way to expensive for me. It was nice to look. One thing I have to say that I didn't like about most of the fabulous women were their shoes. They have some really ugly shoes. Or maybe being an American I am just to far behind in fashion to appreciate the shoes they are wearing.
2. Men in Paris
The men in Paris are very different then the men in the States. They, like the women are in pretty good shape and very fashionable. Almost too fashionable really. Tim didn't really care for much of there clothes and that is o.k. because I have a hard time picturing Tim in a short sleeved yellow deep V-neck shirt with a wild print and a pair of tight white pants and white snake skin loafers. If you are thinking that I have just made this crazy outfits up in my mind you are wrong. We saw all kinds of things like men wearing carpi pants, and I have to say if they are not tight, they don't look all that bad. But I don't think Tim will be flaunting that style anytime soon. OH! I almost forgot the best part about them men haha. . .
Tim and I were in a large make-up store and the place was packed with men and women, we were walking by this display and I happen to look over and see they are showing a video to teach men how to put on make-up. Not like tranny make up, but just how to add a bit of blush to there cheeks and a bit of eyeliner to highlight their eyes. I found it pretty amusing, I cannot say the same for Tim haha! I think at that point he was more than ready to leave the store but he was a good sport and he let me take my time looking at everything. Can you just imagine what it would be like if they showed that video at the mall. It would be pretty funny I don't think Fredericksburg is ready for the European man just yet.
3. Food in Paris
Bread, Bread and more Bread! That is what they eat in Paris. It was nothing to see some one walk into a small pastry shop and order one large baguette anywhere from 18 -24 inches long and just walk out eating it. We saw this all over the place people just walking around with large baguettes just eating them, nothing on them nothing in them just the bread. For breakfast our first day in Paris Tim and I went to a small cafe that was on our way to the Eiffel Tower, we had a hard time with the menu but we figured it out or so we thought, when our breakfast arrived it consisted of two 12 inch long pieces of buttered baguette and two large butter croissants with and small bowl of jam and a spoon. We also were
given a glass of orange juice and a hot chocolate. That was it there was no meat????? I wasn't sure if this was right but then I looked around and everyone was eating the same thing. So yeah they eat a lot of bread yet some how they all stay so damn thin.
Also let me mention the service and things that I observed while dinning out. One night Tim and I just started walking (something we did alot of) and we found a small restaurant/cafe that looked really nice so we decided to stop and have dinner there. The tables where really small and there is not much space in between them, but that is how all of the cafes are. We look over the menu which was in English and we order our meals and our drinks. Tim ordered a coke with stake and a spice pepper sauce and french fries. I ordered a glass of white wine, roasted duck and some kind of potatoes....we also ordered some water. (that is not something that the automatically bring to your table) Anyway our meals arrived and they were great. Only they didn't bring my glass of wine. Tim asked the waitress for the wine and she said yes she would bring it. But by the time we had finished our meals the wine hadn't made it to the table. No big deal we were not in a hurry. So again, Tim asked if we could get the glass of wine. Oh and the people across from us had a basket of bread on there table and another table asked the waitress for some bread and she went right up to the table with the bread basket took it and handed it to the other table! I immediately thought to my self.....I wonder how many other people ordered the duck, I hope that my meal was not some one else's earlier haha. Any way my wine ever did end up making it to the table. Tim and I decide to order dessert so I we looked over the menu and I don't remember what Tim picked but I picked the cheese of the day. So our dessert arrives and I have a place that looks like it has 4 different types of cheese on it. And I love cheese. The only cheese I know for sure was the brie (that is one of my all time favorites) Well I didn't have any bread and I didn't think I wanted any if
it meant that one table would have to go with out. So I tried a bit of one of the cheeses.... I wasn't sure what kind it was but when I tasted it....it was horrible. I didn't like it at all. At this point there was no more water at the table so I really didn't have anything to wash it down with. So I thought I will just eat the brie I know what that is and I know that I like. Well I don't know what they did to it but that brie was nothing like the brie I have had at home. It was awful, and I was so disappointed. I couldn't believe how bad it was, I am sure it was just my taste buds. But there was one more cheese on my plate so I thought I would try it. It was cut into two large triangle and layed over the other slices of cheese. So I tasted it with my fork (because I didn't have any bread to put it on) and it was o.k. it was a familiar taste but I didn't know exactly what it was and then I had another bit, it was much bigger bit. Then after then 3rd bit I figured out what it was; it was BUTTER!!! Haha! I was eating butter.... I am sure they were looking at me and thinking what a crazy American. So that is the last time I order cheese out side of the States.
(This is not the actually plate of cheese but it looked pretty similar to this photo)
4. Pet'sDogs to be exact, were everywhere. There were pets in stores, restaurant's and just about every where. Tim and I saw dogs on scooters, dogs on buses and dogs everywhere. That was great, I do wish we could take our dogs more places. Also all of the dogs we saw were every well behaved, and we didn't see an stray dogs or cats. I really think Bristol would have loved Paris.
5. Cars in ParisThey have lots of cars in Paris, nice ones like BMW's and Mercedes, and Lexus. They also have a car called the Smart car, it looks like one of the cars you see at the circus that 20 clowns climb into.....
(Tim took this picture when we were on one of our many walks)
Also. . . . The parking was crazy, Tim and I saw a women pull out of a parking space on the side of the street and she hit the car behind her twice and the car in front of her once before she managed to drive away. And just a moment later a man driving a BMW tried to pull into the same spot and ended up hitting the rear car three times before he decided that his car wasn't going to fit. I can just see what would happen if some one did that in down town Fredericksburg.
6. Small SpacesI have a new found respect of American hotels, after checking in at the front desk of our hotel in Paris we went to the elevator and when the door opened, I almost died. Once Tim and myself and our two suitcases were in the elevator there wasn't even room to turn around! That was the only time we used the elevator the rest if the time we took the stairs.
(This is the actual hotel elevator)
Our first night in the hotel our room was really small; I think that room might have been 9 ft X 10ft, that is with the bathroom included. Tim was a bit upset about it at first but I thought it was pretty funny. Then the second day we asked them to move us into a bigger room and they did. It was about 2 feet bigger and it had 2 single beds we had a lot if fun sleeping on those. We would go to sleep and they would be next to each other and when we would wake up we would have about 6 inches in between the beds. But really the hotel wasn't all that bad it just wasn't what Tim and I are use to. The people at the hotel where every nice.
Pictures from our trip:Our first stop in Paris was the Eiffel Tower.
This is the view looking up from the second platform on the Eiffel Tower
This is a heart in the park that is below the Eiffel Tower
The view is from the first platform on the Eiffel Tower
This is a picture of the people waiting in line to get on the elevator to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
Tim and didn't want to wait in the super long line for the elevator so we took the stairs, boy was that a long walk. We took over 700 steps to get to the second platform, and then we took the elevator to the top. We got quite a work out that day. It was much easier coming down the going up.
This would have been a great picture of Tim and I on top of the Eiffel Tower if the gentleman behind us wasn't there.
Paris the City of Love
This is a view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
This is Tim and I on the Double Decker bus ride around Paris
Around every corner there where bakeries and cafe's that had all kinds of treats!!!
Here are pictures of the Louvre:
Tim and spent just about the whole day here and I don't think we even saw half of it.
This is the entrance of the Louvre
This is a picture of the Victory, this is not a good picture of the sculpture; it is truly beautiful to see in person.
Here is a picture of the world famous Mona Lisa, it was really hard to enjoy this painting becuase there were so many people pushing and trying to get to the front of the line. It was a bit over whelming.
This is a picture if the Sphix, this was one of the items that Tim really wanted to see.
This is a picture of Norte Dame Catherdral
This is the Arc De Triumphe'
Tim and I all dressed up to go to a show, we had a really good time.
Over all I would say that Tim I had a good time but I am not sure if it is a place I would have to come back to. Well I hope everyone enjoyed our picturs.
