This past winter, I had the privilege to go to Paris with my family to celebrate my dad’s 50th birthday. It was seriously a life changing experience–the entire trip was amazing and made me hungry to travel even more.
Here’s what I learned in Paris:
Attempt the language and people will be friendly.
I feel like every time I told some one that I was going to Paris, each person told me “brace yourself, they are rude to Americans.” However, I felt that nearly every Parisian we encountered was incredibly friendly. I think the fact that my family always spoke French when we encountered a new person helped a lot. I’ve taken French for about a year and being able to ask basic questions and order food was a life saver.
Jet lag is real and deadly.
We took a red eye to Paris and we did not sleep at all – long flights are brutal. However, once we got settled and took a shower we rallied and used up our entire day. It really affects you and coffee is your friend.
I really wanted a salad by the end of it.
Paris is the land of cheese, wine and chocolate. Nearly everything we ate was rich and filling. There was hardly anything that was fresh or spicy to eat and, as a California native, it was definitely an adjustment. By the end of the trip all I wanted was fresh food and something spicy.
The pace of life is so different.
I felt like every time we walked outside in Paris, people were much more relaxed. They spend hours at cafes with their friends talking and enjoying coffee. The city felt communal, and like everyone was interacting with each other regularly.
The cabs were fancy.
This was just kind of funny to me, but all of the cabs we took were SO much nicer than any I’d been in in the states. They were extremely clean and the drivers often had water bottles for us to drink and candy for us to eat.
Portions were much smaller.
When we went out to eat we always got smaller portions and it was great. After all of our meals, we did not feel grossly full or gluttonous. Also, they serve bread with the meal, not before which made us enjoy all our food more.