I have a little jet lag - but, I did sleep until 5:00, so that is pretty good!!
OK - so yesterday was HARD!!! I guess I didn't realize how hard it was until the 4:30 wake up call came in and Ted and I logged into the computer to check our flights. I checked Facebook and KayeLynn and Rodger were online. I was telling myself "those two geeks should be in bed". Then I realized that it was only 8:30 at home - we were getting home at almost 7:00 THE NEXT NIGHT!!! That meant almost 24 hours in airports and airplanes. To top things off, every flight was full to the max, which made it very uncomfortable. Our very last flight, from Atlanta to Salt Lake experienced so much turbulence that the captain kept making the flight attendants sit down. I was sooo dehydrated and miserable. All I wanted was a drink of water - I didn't get one until Denver!!
Anyway - enough complaining - because there was absolutely nothing to complain about when you get to go to France - and you got to do it all for free!!!
> people in Paris know exactly who American's are. I don't mean from the butchering of the language from trying to say bon jour or if it was the way we dressed. It first I thought it was our attempt to not cripple ourselves by wearing our athletic shoes while we walked for miles everyday. In fact, the "do you speak English" ladies, the ones who walk around with the sad story notes, would walk up and down the lines at the Eiffel Tower looking for people to ask. Every one of them, more than one time a day, would stop at Ted and I and ask us - because they knew instantly we were American. Ted got to where when he saw them coming up to us, he would start jibber jabbering in all sorts of different language - his favorite was Klingon.
> there is a reputation that the French are rude - and are rude especially to American's. If they didn't like us, they never showed us. AT ALL!! They were extremely kind.
> French children are scarily well behaved. It was amazing to watch them. They never would run screaming and yelling, they were always extremely well behaved. But, I kind of like to hear the kids yelling and screaming every once in a while. To me, that's what kids do.
> The French are extremely publicly affectionate. They hug and kiss, whether in friendship or in love. There was a couple at the Louvre, probably around Ted and my ages - they were sitting at the cafe and were kissing with extreme passion. It wasn't something you would generally see sitting in a museum here. In fact, Ted said he wanted a French kiss - so I kissed him on both cheeks.
> French women wear flats and boots (without heels). They don't wear tennis shoes, they wear flats and boots. And they do it very fashionably.
> Pointed toe shoes are all the rage for men.
> French women wear scarves. And they do amazing things with them. They wear scarves like American women wear jewelry - they are their fashion jewelry. I saw one woman who had a couple of scarves, that looked exactly alike, that she had tied in these amazing knots and wrapped and wrapped around her neck, til it was about six inches thick. It was crazy, but it was beautiful.
> French men, wear scarves, too. Maybe not to the same extent, but they are all over the men, too.
> The "man bag" is all over in Paris. They are quite the thing there - men carry their bags.
> One little oddity - other than once in the Charles de Gaulle Airport - the only time I ever went to the bathroom was in my hotel. Ted went to the "loo" at the Louvre a couple of times. It wasn't that I didn't want to go in public bathrooms (OK, maybe I didn't), but they always had HUGE lines, so I would just wait until I got to the hotel. In fact, I think I ended up pretty dehydrated throughout this trip - because I didn't drink a lot of water, or anything for that matter. We would generally get a Coca Cola Light when we went to eat somewhere or maybe a bottle of water. But, for the most part, I drank tap water at the hotel before or after I got back.
> People in Paris drive little cars that they parallel park within inches of the car in front and in back of them. I have no idea how they get out of their parking spaces!
> People in France walk. They walk alot. Every street and around every corner, people are walking. Yes, they drive and they drive their little cars, but mostly they WALK. No wonder most people in France are thin and active!
> I only saw three pregnant women my entire time in France. Two in Paris and one in Bordeaux. I don't know where they put their pregnant women, but they aren't around. But, families are usually very small in France. They have either one or two children.
> France is a very lovely place, that I would love to spend several more days exploring, but, there is no place like home. There was nothing better than coming home and seeing my beaautiful kids, my son-in-law and Zach and Chelsea yesterday and going to Burger King (or as Chelsea says BUUUGAA KEEN) to celebrate Zach's pre-school graduation that I missed!!
I hope you've enjoyed my blog over the last couple of days - I'm adding pictures, so if you wanna go back and look at the posts from before.
OK - so yesterday was HARD!!! I guess I didn't realize how hard it was until the 4:30 wake up call came in and Ted and I logged into the computer to check our flights. I checked Facebook and KayeLynn and Rodger were online. I was telling myself "those two geeks should be in bed". Then I realized that it was only 8:30 at home - we were getting home at almost 7:00 THE NEXT NIGHT!!! That meant almost 24 hours in airports and airplanes. To top things off, every flight was full to the max, which made it very uncomfortable. Our very last flight, from Atlanta to Salt Lake experienced so much turbulence that the captain kept making the flight attendants sit down. I was sooo dehydrated and miserable. All I wanted was a drink of water - I didn't get one until Denver!!
Anyway - enough complaining - because there was absolutely nothing to complain about when you get to go to France - and you got to do it all for free!!!
> people in Paris know exactly who American's are. I don't mean from the butchering of the language from trying to say bon jour or if it was the way we dressed. It first I thought it was our attempt to not cripple ourselves by wearing our athletic shoes while we walked for miles everyday. In fact, the "do you speak English" ladies, the ones who walk around with the sad story notes, would walk up and down the lines at the Eiffel Tower looking for people to ask. Every one of them, more than one time a day, would stop at Ted and I and ask us - because they knew instantly we were American. Ted got to where when he saw them coming up to us, he would start jibber jabbering in all sorts of different language - his favorite was Klingon.
> there is a reputation that the French are rude - and are rude especially to American's. If they didn't like us, they never showed us. AT ALL!! They were extremely kind.
> French children are scarily well behaved. It was amazing to watch them. They never would run screaming and yelling, they were always extremely well behaved. But, I kind of like to hear the kids yelling and screaming every once in a while. To me, that's what kids do.
> The French are extremely publicly affectionate. They hug and kiss, whether in friendship or in love. There was a couple at the Louvre, probably around Ted and my ages - they were sitting at the cafe and were kissing with extreme passion. It wasn't something you would generally see sitting in a museum here. In fact, Ted said he wanted a French kiss - so I kissed him on both cheeks.
> French women wear flats and boots (without heels). They don't wear tennis shoes, they wear flats and boots. And they do it very fashionably.
> Pointed toe shoes are all the rage for men.
> French women wear scarves. And they do amazing things with them. They wear scarves like American women wear jewelry - they are their fashion jewelry. I saw one woman who had a couple of scarves, that looked exactly alike, that she had tied in these amazing knots and wrapped and wrapped around her neck, til it was about six inches thick. It was crazy, but it was beautiful.
> French men, wear scarves, too. Maybe not to the same extent, but they are all over the men, too.
> The "man bag" is all over in Paris. They are quite the thing there - men carry their bags.
> One little oddity - other than once in the Charles de Gaulle Airport - the only time I ever went to the bathroom was in my hotel. Ted went to the "loo" at the Louvre a couple of times. It wasn't that I didn't want to go in public bathrooms (OK, maybe I didn't), but they always had HUGE lines, so I would just wait until I got to the hotel. In fact, I think I ended up pretty dehydrated throughout this trip - because I didn't drink a lot of water, or anything for that matter. We would generally get a Coca Cola Light when we went to eat somewhere or maybe a bottle of water. But, for the most part, I drank tap water at the hotel before or after I got back.
> People in Paris drive little cars that they parallel park within inches of the car in front and in back of them. I have no idea how they get out of their parking spaces!
> People in France walk. They walk alot. Every street and around every corner, people are walking. Yes, they drive and they drive their little cars, but mostly they WALK. No wonder most people in France are thin and active!
> I only saw three pregnant women my entire time in France. Two in Paris and one in Bordeaux. I don't know where they put their pregnant women, but they aren't around. But, families are usually very small in France. They have either one or two children.
> France is a very lovely place, that I would love to spend several more days exploring, but, there is no place like home. There was nothing better than coming home and seeing my beaautiful kids, my son-in-law and Zach and Chelsea yesterday and going to Burger King (or as Chelsea says BUUUGAA KEEN) to celebrate Zach's pre-school graduation that I missed!!
I hope you've enjoyed my blog over the last couple of days - I'm adding pictures, so if you wanna go back and look at the posts from before.
I heard you have to pay to go to their public toilets is that true? Also, I heard they let there pets in everywhere and they go to the bathroom everywhere too, is that true? I am so excited that you got to experience such a trip and for FREE is even better! Glad you enjoyed and now you are safe and sound back home. Love ya
ReplyDeleteYes, it's true that most of their public restrooms are pay toilets. The one at the Louvre was not pay - but, a lot of their toilets are.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, the French do love their dogs.. and they walk them along the sidewalks. And the dogs do leave their business there. It's not too bad, but you do need to watch where you walk. We did watch one young lady walking her dog, and she did take a bag to pick up the dog's business. Only one I saw do it!!