Much like the ever eclectic Manny Ramirez, I'm baaaaaaack. However, unlike Manny, I am significantly more stable and much less likely to do something crazy that makes you shake your head. In fact, after my recent trip to Paris, I am pretty sure that the overload of culture has transformed me from a crass and outspoken degenerate to a refined dignitary.
*crickets*
Nobody believes me, huh? Well can't say that I blame you. But Paris was truly out of this world. Granted, my traveling experiences in Europe are fairly limited (parts of Spain, Greece, and Florence) but Paris was definitely the most jaw-dropping of all of them. Like right now I am sitting here trying to decide how I want to write this post to make everyone simultaneously jealous and want to punch me in the face for spending five days in Paris, and I don't know where to begin (my flight lands at 11:15 on December 18th, so those of you who do want to punch me in the face, you know where to find me). So I guess I will just jump right into it and see where my traveling (pun intended) mind takes me.
The craziest thing about Paris was how astoundingly beautiful every part we ventured through was. When I went to Florence, I was impressed with the beauty of the city, but that was on such a small scale. When we first toured around Athens, the size of the city blew me away. The way that the houses just stretch ad infinitum was difficult to comprehend. Paris? Combine the concentrated beauty of Florence and the size of Athens an that is Paris. I spent all day Thursday-Saturday touring the city and not a single part was unimpressive. I just kept thinking, "man, eventually we are going to see something shitty. There will be a bad neighborhood, or massive amounts of graffiti, or dog poop everywhere." Nope, just never came around. That is not to say that these things DON'T exist in Paris, just that the parts we were around were truly incredible.
I think one of the most impressive things about the city was the architecture of all the buildings. All of the apartments, museums, shops, offices, etc were intricately designed. Aesthetically appealing does not even scratch the surface. You know how in the US when your neighbor gets a huge TV, the competitor in you wants to go get a bigger one to show off? Well in Paris they must have decided to do the same, but in terms of architecture and design. "What do you mean he just installed brand new columns, arches and re-chiseled the designs around the windows?! I have to have nicer designs than him!" Wandering around aimlessly was a treat.
I have about a million other things that I want to talk about, but I will get to in later posts. But here is one interesting cultural tidbit that I noted: the French are an incredibly proud culture. "Well no shit, Sherlock. Most people knew that already." But they are especially proud compared to the Greeks. Granted, our experience with the French was more limited than that of the Greeks, but it was kinda surprising. Many of the Greeks I have talked to were surprised when I said I went to the Acropolis and thought it was incredible. To many, but not all, the Acropolis is just there and isn't anything overwhelming. The Parisians seemed genuinely more excited that we were going to tour the city and see their historical sites. It appeared that they take a lot more pride in their national landmarks. I suppose it makes sense though given the Greeks are a more modest culture and generally the French are seen as, well, not. But just thought y'all would find that interesting.
Coming soon - a review of all the major sites we hit up.
The New Pornogrophers - Execution Day
The quality isn't super great but I love this song and was at this concert. Enjoy!
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