I know it’s been a while since my last blog post, but I promise I have a good excuse: my boyfriend, Taylor, flew to Paris for his spring break (Okay, maybe that’s not a good enough excuse for you, but it is for me). I wanted to be able to spend as much time with him as possible, so my blogging took a back seat to exploring the city with him.
Taylor hasn’t had the opportunity to travel very much in his life so far. Prior to his trip to France, the only experience he had being out of the U.S. was a trip to Canada in middle school. His flight to Paris was the first time he ever took a plane by himself, so to say he was nervous is a bit of an understatement.
"I hated flying because it's just so crowded," he said. "It was so nerve-wracking – I mean humans are meant to be on the ground ... it’s just unnatural to fly.”
To Taylor's dismay, he experienced the same lack of personal space on French soil as he did thousands of miles up in the air.
Taylor hasn’t had the opportunity to travel very much in his life so far. Prior to his trip to France, the only experience he had being out of the U.S. was a trip to Canada in middle school. His flight to Paris was the first time he ever took a plane by himself, so to say he was nervous is a bit of an understatement.
"I hated flying because it's just so crowded," he said. "It was so nerve-wracking – I mean humans are meant to be on the ground ... it’s just unnatural to fly.”
To Taylor's dismay, he experienced the same lack of personal space on French soil as he did thousands of miles up in the air.
"The personal space bubble in France is very different, mainly because it doesn't exist," he said with a chuckle. "Let's just say there were times on the metro where I could have definitely squeezed someone’s butt and gotten away with it."
We did the typical tourist things together: took a boat ride down the Seine, went to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge and the Louvre. We also made a sincere attempt to go to the Catacombs, but we didn’t have enough time.
We did the typical tourist things together: took a boat ride down the Seine, went to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge and the Louvre. We also made a sincere attempt to go to the Catacombs, but we didn’t have enough time.
We ended up agreeing that one of the best things we did together was "lock in" our love at le Pont des Arts. These love locks, known in French as les cadenas d'amour, are meant to symbolize everlasting love. It may have been a silly tourist thing to do, but it was definitely something to check off our bucket lists.
Taylor chose to write the date we visited the bridge on our lock the way the French do (day / month / year), which is something he's become fond of. Since his visit, he also started going strictly by military time. But that's not all he's adopted since his trip to Paris. He now loves putting hard-boiled eggs on his sandwiches and has a new found appreciation for French bread.
"The bread was really, really good," Taylor said. "It’s crunchy, but not break your teeth crunchy. It’s more like scrape your mouth crunchy, which I like."
After his stay in France, Taylor realized how much work traveling is, but said he looks forward to doing it again. Next on his list of countries to visit: Germany.
Taylor chose to write the date we visited the bridge on our lock the way the French do (day / month / year), which is something he's become fond of. Since his visit, he also started going strictly by military time. But that's not all he's adopted since his trip to Paris. He now loves putting hard-boiled eggs on his sandwiches and has a new found appreciation for French bread.
"The bread was really, really good," Taylor said. "It’s crunchy, but not break your teeth crunchy. It’s more like scrape your mouth crunchy, which I like."
After his stay in France, Taylor realized how much work traveling is, but said he looks forward to doing it again. Next on his list of countries to visit: Germany.