November 19, 2012 - Like Napoleon I return to Paris

Like Napoleon, I return to Paris

I have a theory that every traveler has their own ’Waterloo’. A place that culture, history and even their fellow travelers rave about; but in their most secret psyche makes them feel overwhelmed and uneasy. I imagined myself to be like the great emperor, but instead of Wellington, I would meet the City of Light on my personal field of battle.Paris, world capital of: food, wine, art, fashion, culture and of course romance. The majestic city dating back 3000 years from the small nomadic tribe of the Pairisi who lived on a small island in the middle of the Seine to today’s greater Paris consisting of 12 million people with 2.1 million people residing in the city center. Readers let’s face it, the above list is the reason I fell in love with Europe over a decade ago. 3000 thousand years of history combined with the pinnacle of all modern culture, with one small drawback - the Parisians.I’m going to make a confession now. Prior to my current trip, I had visited Paris once before in the summer of 2002 for 8 hours. My tour consisted of a short ride around the city and 2hours at the Louvre. French culture was as foreign to me as Chinese. I was accustomed to the friendly and boisterous Italians, the fun-loving Irish , and the reserved but cheerful British. I found the Parisians to be cool and standoffish and in my limited exposure to the world, snobby. I felt like a fish out of water and thought that would be my one and only Parisian visit.Of course as I grew as a traveler and (I hope) became more sophisticated and open to other cultures I began to wonder if I wasn’t selling Paris short. Visitors since the time of Julius Cesar had fallen in love with Paris and all its wonders. For hundreds of years artists, poets, writers, scientists, foodies and of course lovers have flocked to this city, It took the personal Parisian stories of two women, who convinced me to give the French capitol another chance. Armed with my copies of Julia Child’s My Life in France and Eloisa James’ Paris in Love, I left Charles De Gaulle airport searching for my own Parisian love affair. It was the twin voices of two women who lived in Paris at the middle of the last century and within the first few years of this one who inspired this journey (like Napoleon, this wasn’t just a skirmish this was a major battle).These women may have lived at different times but their interests (writing and cooking) and how they completely embraced their adoptive city made me look at (pardon the pun) Paris in a whole new light. They made me understand what I perceived as ‘snobbery’ or disdain at my not knowing the language was a desire for language perfection. That unlike Americans who consider a restaurant or a shop as public places, the French consider these to be extensions of their private homes. I have already found a simple Bon Jour Madame along with general civilities like ‘sil vous plait and merci’ are the key to a better understanding of these formal and sophisticated people. Parisians aren’t like the average American citizen, and after all isn’t that why we travel in the first place, to learn and appreciate other cultures?Next up, my first days in Paris. I’ll share my adventures exploring ancient Paris on the Ile de Cite as well as the area around my hotel the Marais.Au Revior -Mis Amis.