Tourism with a Twist
Missions accomplished today:
1. Mastering the metro. Unlike New York, the Paris metro machines include many options for buying tickets. We stared at screen and pushed a bunch of buttons. We finally surrendered to heading to the help desk for a ticket. Afterwards, I boasted by confidence by leading the way, knowing to grab the M6 headed towards Charles de Gaulle, which Lindsay, my Paris roomie, was very impressed by. I must owe some credit to my New Yorker boyfriend for warming me up to the hectic subway culture, which has proven to help me immensely! On the way back from our journey, we were bursting with pride after purchasing our own metro tickets from the machine with no help at all!
2. Fluently speaking the restaurant lingo. Over the past two days, if nothing else, we have genuinely experienced the French dining experience. Ok, maybe we haven't actually dined at all of them, but we've certainly enjoyed a few bottles of vin around town. Now, we can walk in confidently asking for a table for two outdoors. There is honestly no reason to eat anywhere in doors in Paris because everyday is equivalent to the first warm spring day on the east coast where patrons everywhere are crowding the sidewalk tables. Again, it is like that everyday here! For lunch today, we wanted something light so we asked for a couple sandwich baguettes, whether it was a language barrier or cultural concept, we automatically received ham and cheese on a baguette. It was delicious, however the table next to us received specific baguette menus, and later, deliciously grilled sandwiches. Umm... we didn't know that was an option! If all else fails, we certainly know how to order our wine, unless the servers possibly have fine tuned intuition for thirsty American girls. We've gone from glasses to whole bottles, which are much cheaper and more common over here. Finally, when our plates are cleared and glasses are empty, we tell the waiters, "Je finis," for "I am finished." Then, we've learned, it is not common for the check to come right away, unless you say, "L'addition, s'il vous plaît."
3. Seeing the Eiffel Tower! As tourists, the first thing we have been asked is, "How do you like the Eiffel tower?" Well, it feels extremely ignorant to shrug and admit you haven't seen it yet, even if it is only the second day. So, after lunch, we took the fifteen minute stroll over to the most romantic monument in the world. As soon as it came into view, I admit, we both gasped in admiration. Pictures simply do not do it justice. I'm sure most people assume that is the case, but it is impossible to put into words how powerful the view of the tower actually is. As we got closer, we gazed at a handful of brides and grooms, met a couple aggressive street vendors, and felt the strong breeze of the Seine. We decided the best way to fit in with all the other young women our age was to do as they were doing, going photo crazy! Okay, it wasn't just to fit in. However, as a avid anti-selfier, I did capture a great selfie with the historic monument, as well as a few with my girlfriend. The hype of the sightseeing left us craving some more vin so we headed over to a restaurant with a partial view of the tower and enjoyed yet another bottle of vin blanc.
The greatest lesson learned over the past two days, is that it is simply impossibly to become part of another culture, or even wholly understand another language, until you are immersed in the experience. As is true with my experience with Swahili, no matter how hard I tried to learn French, it simply didn't click until I arrived. Now that my adventures depend on my vocabulary, I already feel like I am picking up so much!
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