It has been so long since my trip to France, that actually posting about it went on my bucket list. Okay, not really. But, I did go to France, and that I can cross off of my bucket list.
Thanks to a very generous father-in-law and his wife, Jeremy and I were able to visit them for about ten days in Paris and Grenoble. Along the way, I noted a few things. So, here we go… things I learned in France:
They don’t tip at restaurants. Not because the French are cheap, but because they pay their wait staff enough where they don’t need tips. This is a picture from a cafe that we had breakfast at.
They dip their croissants in their coffee. (They really know what they’re doing.)
Everyone smokes cigarettes. Ironically, I did not get a picture of anyone smoking. But, don’t be fooled. Everyone.
(This lovely picture taken by Martina.)
The amount of people I saw that chose to walk, take public transportation, ride their bicycle or motorcycle was overwhelming. In such a great way. There were still a lot of cars on the road, but a lot less than there could be!
When they do drive cars, they are all manual shift and use diesel fuel. As a side note, it took awhile to get used to the speed limit signs measured in kilometers.
They eat croissants right out of the bag, and carry baguettes around with them. Just like the movies. (This is me pretending I do this on a regular basis.)
Often the toilets are separate from the main bathroom. That way someone can use the toilet if someone else is in the shower. Smart! Also, there’s a handle on the top that is used to flush the toilet. It uses less water than flushing the way we do.
When you weigh yourself in kilos, you can pretend you weigh a lot less than you do, and therefore eat a lot more. Don’t make fun of my orange shorts.
The public restrooms in Paris are pretty neat. You may have to pay to use one, but they self clean when you are done. They make loud, whooshy cleany sounds.
America, we are so behind on our love for recycling. These recycling centers are all over the city.
I wish I had gotten a better picture of this, but this is how cars are towed. If you’re illegally parked, a big truck comes over and picks you up with big rubber bands.
Paris likes Star Trek.
And “Twilight.” Which apparently translates into “Fascination.”
Jeremy and I hit The Louvre, and as big as the crowd around The Mona Lisa was, Mona Lisa herself was tiny. (She’s way back there, you can see her if you squint.) Although I’m glad I saw her, I actually enjoyed the other art much more.
Another picture of inside The Louvre. It was beautiful.
After that, we thought about skipping the Eiffel Tower out of exhaustion, and afraid of it being too touristy.
I’m so glad we didn’t skip it! It was so much more enormous than we thought, and such a site to see.
To end, I will post a few more pictures of some of my favorite pedestrian shots. I could post so many more, but I hope you enjoyed these!
