I went to France for work and to take a student to introduce her to a friend/colleague and for her to start an 8-week study abroad in his research lab.
I absolutely fell in love with Paris... although I feel like we just rushed around trying to see things, it's still quite beautiful.
We saw the Notre-Dame Cathedral, Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Champs Elysees. I think my favorite thing to see was the lock bridge (Pont de l'Archevêché), but I also LOVED the Eiffel Tower. Here's just a few pictures.
 |
| Notre Dame |
 |
| Eiffel Tower in the distance |
 |
| The Louvre |
 |
| Champs Elysees |
 |
| Not quite sure what this is, but I took it from the Eiffel Tower. |
 |
| Lock Bridge with Notre Dame in the background... Of course, I had to put a lock on the bridge for M and I! |
 |
| The Eiffel Tower. It sparkles once a night. Just breathtaking! |
 | ||
| Montmartre... Very busy that day, but beautiful views of the city! |
 |
| Lunch dessert?!? What? I'm not certain how French people stay so slim, when they're eating desserts like this on a regular basis. |
The most disappointing part of the trip is that I had a very hard time eating since I'm gluten intolerant and I think I REALLY missed out on some very delicious things. Of course, I couldn't have a baguette or those wonderful-looking cakes in the above picture. I also somewhat gave up on communicating that I couldn't have any gluten, mainly because I can't speak a lick of French. Fortunately, we found a farmer's market and some delicious gluten-free treats!
We only spent a little over 24 hours in Paris and then we took the train down to Montpellier. I don't have many pictures from there, but Montpellier is a great city. The people were much kinder here and tried to communicate with us as best they could, whereas in Paris, I think they were just annoyed with us 'Americans'. There were two instances, however, that were rather awkward, to say the least. We were mocked for not smoking? and because of our accents. I assume those experiences are why Americans think French people are rude. Obviously, a few bad seeds can always ruin the bunch and for the most part, everyone was wonderful. Next time, I think I might be Canadian and see if I'm treated any differently.
Overall, it was a quick, but fabulous trip to France. I'd love to go back and share the splendor with M.
Have you been to France? What did you love most about the beautiful country?
xoxoxo,
lw
