Ah Paris, the Pros and Cons

So all of my entries up until this point have been happy and positive. I really don’t like to complain but I need to vent! We have had a very trying day today. Jack has been kind of whiny while in Paris and we keep joking that he prefers London but, in all seriousness, we truly think that is the case. And after today, we are on the same page with him. To avoid sounding negative, for each reason that Paris is not my favorite city, I will list a reason that Paris is fabulous:

Number 1

- NONE of the metros have elevators. But they all have staircase after staircase!

+ We have heard some beautiful live music in the metro station. We saw an ensemble of about 8 violinists, a few cellists and other string instruments today.

Number 2

- We have encountered a lot of very rude, pretentious people.

+ We have encountered a lot of very nice, helpful people (probably tourists!)

Number 3

- Every restaurant we go in REQUIRES that we leave the stroller at the door and take Jack to the table but they do not provide high chairs. Challenging.

+ We have had some really good food and wine while in Paris.

Number 4

- The streets are very dirty and the metro smells like urine.

+ There are some exquisite sites, world renowned monuments and breath taking architecture that make it worth coming to Paris.

Number 5

- We rarely see strollers on the streets. In London, they are everywhere! Do Parisians not take their children out?

+ With a stroller, we have been able to jump lines and avoid paying entry fees at some places. Not too shabby.

Number 6

- There are very few garbage cans on the streets and public seating is hard to come by. We had to feed Jack a bottle on the nasty steps of the metro because it was the only place we could find to sit down!

+ The metro provided a covered area to feed Jack as it wasn’t just raining, but sleeting as well.

In conclusion, Paris has been an experience. Our time here is so limited, it is hard to see everything and do all that we want. But we feel that we have done a great job of “speed-sight-seeing”. We’ve hit the major spots and we may even go to Versailles tomorrow. I’m not certain that we’ll come back to Paris at this point but we wouldn’t trade this time for the world, as we are here together and nothing beats that! Bonne Nuit.