Paris – The Romantic City

We woke up on the train at 7:30am in Paris, France.  As we stepped groggily into this new city, the cherry blossoms painted the riverside and the smell of blooming flowers filled the air.  We visited Notre Dame then decided to find lunch.  I told Adrian he could pick and he chose Mexican Restaurant!!!  We were both a little scared when we decided to spend a day in Paris because neither of us know any French.  I can't even count past ten.  Imagine our delight when we found out that our server at the Mexican place spoke Spanish!  We had just spent 19 days mastering the art of ordering food in Spanish, so it was the perfect thing to make us feel comfortable in the strange new city.  Also, Mexican food in Paris is WAY better than Mexican food in New York. 

After lunch, we discovered the subway (metro) system.  At last, something I felt at home figuring out; no one needs to know the language when there are colors and numbers associated with destinations.  Besides, anyone who can navigate the tangled convoluted mess that it is the NYC subway system can definitely decipher the simple zigzag that is Paris. 

That evening we set out an hour or so before sunset to check out Montmartre.  This is a huge hill (small mountain) with a church at the top.  The real gem was that the mountain overlooked the entire city and we enjoyed watching the sun go down over a pink-painted Paris.   I knew when we decided to stop in Paris that it was mostly for the food;  I worked at a wonderful French restaurant in Colorado and have never been the same since!  We found the cutest little restaurant, "Le Basilic" at the foot of Montmartre and enjoyed the wine, the prix fix meal and the romantic atmosphere.  By the time we finished our bottle of wine and stumbled out of the restaurant into the Paris night, we could definitely see why everyone says that it is the most romantic city in the world.  We wandered over to the Eifel tower just in time for the Midnight light show (actually, I think they do it every hour).  We marveled in wonder at its imposing stature, and went back to the hotel to prepare for our trip to Amsterdam the next day.

Everyone always says that the French hate Americans and that they will all be rude to tourists.  If I had visited Paris 2 years ago, before living in New York, I would have completely agreed.  I found that the Parisians were no more impatient than your typical New Yorker.  It may be that the French hate Americans, but if that is true, then I can say that New Yorkers hate EVERYONE.  We were awfully humble when we asked people if they spoke English, rather than assuming they did and as a result; we only encountered good will and helpful attitudes.