Thoughts on Paris, Day One

My original plan was to go to 12 brand-spanking-new countries this year. It looks like I'll reneg on that, and part of the reason is that I'm recycling France. I went to Paris almost 10 years ago on the nose. In general, I found France to be full of rude people, and that they especially hate Americans. And love to talk about American politics, if you can find someone that's willing to admit that they talk English. I know this is the stereotype - but I maintain that I was not influenced by the stereotypes, and that I had plenty of my own experiences.

Paris was no exception. Overall, Paris did not "wow" me. My concern has been that Paris has successfully wowed so many people, including my friends. I concluded that Paris deserved a second chance. One of the few French phrases I know is "bon chance," which actually translates to, "good luck." I'll be here for six full days.

So far, so good. I had an unbelievable, 3-hour lunch, and I'll write a separate post about that. I saw le Madeleine church, le Palais Tokyo museum, and walked the Champs Elysees. It was a pretty full day, considering that I flew in this morning, and wasn't checked in until about noon. I didn't have that many interactions with people, but no flack so far.

Anyway, I'll wrap up with some quick observations:
1. In any French cafe, have of the patrons will be teenage girls
2. I never thought I would hear 16-year-olds with a smoker's cough (gross!)
3. Everyone in Paris tries to hard to look good. But man, I feel like the fashion police need to arrest me.
4. Everyone in Paris is beautiful! This is a fact-based observation. I would not say the same thing for the following cities: Delhi, Bangalore, Athens, Male, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Atlanta. I'm not sure how Paris got all the pretty people, but they need to share. And this is unrelated to the clothing / makeup.
5. The Paris metro is wonderful. I never had to wait more than 3 minutes, and I could make three metro line changes on the same trip without speaking the language. This is the #1 weakness of Atlanta, in my opinion.
6. Sarah (my dog) would love Paris! It seems like everyone has a dog and is walking it around. And they're allowed in cafes, which is an extra bonus.