Bonjour!

Paris is wonderful.

I came here for a few days the summer after fourth grade, so I wasn't looking forward to Paris for the same reasons as a lot of the people (girls) on this trip. Honestly, I remember the it being really hot when we went to the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa being tiny, and the city being dirty. I preferred the land of my people (Holland). 

So imagine my surprise when I happen to love the city. And I think I have figured out why.... so many of the cities we've been to have been trying to overdramatize, or even create their national history to give tourists something to look at (Prague, Salzburg). Berlin  (still my favorite) on the other hand, was trying to hide a lot of what their city has been through in an effort to recreate who they are, which is understandable... but Paris is different from both.

Paris doesn't feel like the movies. It's not the super romantic, picturesque city you would image. The "french culture" is on the decline because of all the immigration... 8% France's population is Muslim and an even higher concentration (I've heard stats ranging from 15-20%) here in Paris. There's a Latin Quarter, a Chinatown, and the flea market was FULL of African merchandise tents. Welcome to the new France. The people who live here are French...They think they are better than you, and they don't give a crap what you think about their city, so they aren't about to waste their time bragging about their city, or trying to cover anything unappealing up. And I respect that. 

Dinner the first night. We had pasta a pork... an interesting combo! I liked it, but many other group members weren't so lucky?

first night adventures...

Kelsey and Jess 

Flea market that Emily, Angela, Hannah, Mike, and I found on the first day. We looked it up online, and at first, all we saw was the sawp meet-ish shops and were disappointed. But after an hour of so wandering, we found the most incredible vintage market filled with shops of designer clothes. We're talking Chanel, D&G, ect.... not that I wear any of that, but it was so much fun to explore all of the random shops and hear so much French :)

That night, Scott and I stumbled across the most beautiful Starbucks in the entire world. It looked like a ballroom... and because my chai was down a few dollars I went for it...

and apparently, they mistook "kylie" for "florian"? Scott had a field day with that one...