Paris, je t'aime!

It's been 12 years since my last visit to Paris and even though I've been to France 7 times in the past 3 years I've never had a reason or the desire to go back to The City of Light. Until recently the thought of going to Paris had been a bit intimidating. I love France and I love the French but most of the French people I have met outside of France (that is while traveling) have been from Paris (either that or they lie and say they are from Paris because they don't think Americans know of any other French cities). These "Parisians" unfortunately almost always fit the stereotype of the rude snobby French person, a stereotype that I have never found anywhere in the entire country and I've traveled it from north to south, and east to west. Maybe I was afraid that an unpleasant trip to Paris would spoil my opinion of the rest of the country, but I'm happy to say that it hasn't. Paris IS an intimidating place but only because it's a big rough city. It's a lot like New York but on a more human scale since there are none of New York's larger than life skyscrapers. As far as big cities go I'd say it's a pretty darn good one.

P.S. I took this picture myself! It only took me 12 tries to get it right, 4 to set up the shot (you can see the umbrella at my feet as my marker of where to stand) and the rest to get my hand in the right place.