Wait...they hate Americans? Great.

Over spring break I traveled with two of my friends, Michele and Angela, to Paris for four days.  We were extremely nervous because the three of us aren't the best at navigation.  On our way to the airport, we asked our taxi driver about what to expect in Paris.  He warned us that the people there are not the most friendly, especially towards Americans.  This wasn't the first time we've heard this generalization, so we went in with precaution.

After our flight we landed in Paris and bought a metro ticket for 50 euro (everything in Paris is really expensive).  After some struggling we asked a random stranger if we were about to board the right metro and he assured us that it was correct.  To our surprise the man 1. knew english and 2. was very friendly and helpful.  We assumed we were lucky and just happened to find one of the friendlier people in Paris.

One day for lunch, I stopped to get a baguette at a bakery.  It only cost 1 euro but I paid with a 20.  Mistakenly, I left without my change and continued walking down the street.  A few minutes later, an older man came running down the street asking me if I left my change at the store.  I was so thankful, especially because he went completely out of the way to let me know.

Our last night in Paris we had to board a night train that would take us to Barcelona.  We were a little worried about what to expect because none of us have ever been on one of these trains.  We got a cabin with four beds and we were praying that the fourth bed would be empty.  We didn't want to awkwardly room with a French person that we didn't know.  And of course with our luck we had a roommate.  Her name was Solee, a 22 year old french women, who was married with a baby on the way. At first it was really awkward because she didn't know any English, but then we used a little Spanish, hand gestures and an american magazine to communicate with her.  We talked about the celebrities in the magazine and all of these American shows that she knew (Gossip Girl, the OC, Beverly Hills).  It was so interesting that we could speak completely different languages but yet have things in common and could talk for hours.

I really thought that people in Paris were going to hate us because we are Americans.  Everything that happened over our break proved this to be completely untrue.   This generalization about the people in France was completely a stereotype.


Our Trip...

The Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

Versailles

The Louvre