J'aime Paris

France was awesome! I wanted to stay longer. Rob and I spent the first two days on our own in Paris doing mostly touristy things - the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame. There was so much to see, and eye candy everywhere we looked. The first day we walked all over the city. The second day, thankfully, we discovered the metro. I noticed a couple interesting things in Paris.

First, a significant number of people in France don't speak English. I probably should have expected that, but several people told me before I left that everyone there speaks English. There were several times when I had to rely on the little bit of high school French that I remember. Everyone we met was so friendly and helpful, even though I'm pretty sure I completely butchered their language.

Second, and this is really cool, dogs are allowed almost everywhere in Paris. I saw several when we were walking through the train station. One guy we talked to said he and his wife went to dinner at a nice restaurant, and there was a couple with a dog seated at the table next to theirs. I should mention that all the dogs we saw were very well behaved.

Third, all advertising for unhealthy foods included a disclaimer. For example, I saw a poster advertising a fast food restaurant. At the bottom, there was text that roughly translated as, "Eating too much salty, sweet or fatty foods is bad for your health." I saw the same message scrolling at the bottom of several tv ads for snacks. Oh, and the coke tastes better there. Apparently they use real sugar instead of corn syrup.

I almost forgot to mention that Rob got scammed out of a couple bucks by a gypsy woman along the Seine. I find it particularly funny because he's the one who is always warning me not to talk to the bums in Columbus.