Impressions of Paris

Oh, Paris...

Nine months have elapsed since our spring weekend trip to your pretty boulevards and crowded metro stations, and I'm long overdue to share a few thoughts about our time wandering your arrondissements. There's so much I have to say about you, but a busy life and then senseless tragedies on your streets have prevented me from posting much beyond a few photo essays or mentioning you in passing.

Paris, you were... exactly what I expected and exactly what I didn't expect. I was overwhelmed by the grandeur of Notre Dame, giddy to pinch the Louvre's pyramid between my fingers, and awed by the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee spilling down from it. Your buildings were bright even in the gloomy weather, and the green trees lining your streets lent an air of suburbia rather than the huge metropolis you are. The sun peeking through the clouds long enough to smile upon the cafe patrons on Montmartre and the blue skies framing Eiffel's Tower are mental postcards I'll carry for the rest of my life.

But I never caught the joie de vivre of which so many gush about finding on your streets or while walking along the Seine. I was nervous in your metro stations, harassed and chased by the street sellers at the Sacre Coeur, and experienced the stereotypical Parisian attitude from all but one Parisian restaurateur (who seemed to have been only a recent settler in the city). Perhaps it's not entirely your fault. After all, we were only there for a weekend, and I was struggling with the exhaustion and nausea of first trimester pregnancy. And beyond a few hours of breaking clouds, the weather left much to be desired, too.

So perhaps the second or third time will be the charm for me. I will definitely return someday to revisit your world-class sites, see those which I missed, and to try to catch some of that joie de vivre for myself, perhaps over a fine Parisian wine or while giving my taste buds an adventure of escargot, foie gras, or steak tartare. I'll return not naive to your problems, but cognizant and open-minded to see past them and hopefully improve upon my last experience.

Until then, I remain respectfully yours, etc.

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Have you ever had a return visit that improved upon your first impressions?

Stay tuned later this week for more Paris insights with a guest post from Christy of What Up, Swags?! and co-host of Travel Tuesday!

Linking up with Bonnie, Christy, Diana & Anna!