France

I have been in France for about a week now.
First I was in Montpellier along the southern coast and now I am in Grenoble.

I didn't know much about France when I came here; my experience in french limited to a 2 month sampler course in 6th grade, and my time in France limited to a week I spent in Paris in the fall of 2002.

Funny story about that, by the way.
I never wanted to go to Paris.
Really.

I was sick of everyone saying how beautiful it was, how great it was, the city of love, blah blah blah. It was overrated, overdone, overly processed, post-consumer waste to me (sorry guys). Everyone had gone, or was planning on going. I had less than zero interest.

But there I was studying in London for the fall with a week vacation mid-term and a seriously greedy travel itch. SO, my friend and I scavenged what little money we could (and I really I mean a little) and found our way to a student travel agency. We had big dreams of Rome, Athens, Geneva... But to our dismay all were out of our budget. The only thing we could afford was a train ticket to Paris and a few nights in a hostel.

And so it was that I begrudgingly found myself on the way to Paris. I was not looking forward to the trip. I had myself all prepared for a miserable time in a land of cliches. Fortunately, the trip proved to be far better than I had expected.

It was cloudy and rainy every day of the week we were there (In fact, I still have not seen the top of the Eiffel Tower)...

We were so broke that every meal consisted of the same cheap local foods: cheese, bread and wine...

We never went out to eat or for drinks once...

but I still look back on that time as one of the best trips ever. The city is just so lovely and pedestrian friendly. The people were friendly and helpful, and didn't seem to mind that I knew little more than: Bonjour, Merci, Au revoir, S'il Vous Plaît...

It really held all of the magic that I had heard about.



Now I am back, 6 years later, and to my further surprise, this experience is equally positive. I find France to have a soothing relaxed pace to life. This has been the first area that I have visited which felt persistently relaxing. So far so good.