Older and wiser (I think)

On the train between Bruges and Paris I looked through photos of my first trip to Paris, the one I took with a high school friend when I was an 18-year-old who'd barely been out of the Midwest and who'd never really traveled without an adult. I hadn't looked at them in years, but I remembered lots of people telling me how they lived my first European adventure along with me through my photos.

I was expecting to see some really good stuff. I'm not sure why, considering they were taken on a simple point-and-shoot and I lack anything resembling photography skills. Needless to say, I was disappointed. Instead of really focusing on the beauty of the place, I took pictures of girls in parachute pants and hotel wallpaper. You know, the typical weird, 18-year-old-isn't-this-so-funny-inside-jokes-are-awesome type stuff.

What an inspirational shot.

I'm 23 now, and I still take enough stupid photos for you and me both. But I like to think I'm a bit older and wiser this time around. I take photos of streets, scenery and landmarks straight-on, upside-down and backwards if I need to. As I said before, I'm not a particularly good photographer, and I still don't have a particularly good camera. But I've resolved to try to my best to capture what I'm seeing so that I can see it again just the same in 37 years.

My friend and I were in Paris last time for a couple of days. She and I launched a 48-hour tourist blitz on the city: the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge and the Palace of Versailles. Today I read the emails I sent home during that trip and giggled at my totally unprofound, inarticulate teenage self. Some gems:

"[regarding buying train tickets] Anyway, when we were waiting in line we see these 5 French military men walked around the train station in uniform with guns (and this is not an exaggeration) the size of m16's on the front of them. It was scary. And they just stared us down the entire time they went up the escalator. Later, we saw 5 or 6 policeman with big guns on them too--not exactly the greatest first impression. After we got our tickets, we found the metro and started attempting to conquer that. It was much more difficult than London was. You have to buy metro tickets with coins apparently, they don't accept cash. so, after waiting in line for that we had to go attempt to get coins. So, I went to a little magazine shop in the station to ask for change in exchange for my cash. The cashier advised me to go to the toilets to get change. So, I did."

Snappy commentary from 23-year-old Teresa who's convinced she's smarter now: Overuse of simple sentences and chronological order. Also, I did not notice any sort of military presence this time around. And the Paris metro system is almost as basic as it gets. 

"In the [train] station there are a lot of beggars. They dress like the stereotypical gypsie. They approach you and ask if you speak English, and when you say you do, they give you a piece of paper begging you for money to support their family. I made the mistake of saying I spoke English the first time, but I learned my lesson and ignored them after that. There were gypsies everywhere outside of Notre Dame as well. They never tried to steal anything from me, but it was still somewhat frightening."

Commentary: Um, welcome to Europe? I didn't see the droves of beggars this time around, although I did have to tell Todd to stop responding to seemingly well-intentioned strangers when they approached him in the stations. 

"we got our tickets for the metro and found our hotel, which was nothing special but decent. The bed was hilariously small and the entire room was wallpapered and tiled (y es the walls were tiled). But the bathroom was nice, so it wasn't too bad."

Yet another wallpaper shot.

Commentary: Cheap hotels' bathrooms are always their most important selling points. Also, glad you learned quickly that Euro accommodations are generally Euro tiny.

"On the first day we went to the Eiffel and to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc was very large, but there was a mililtary service or something of the sort going on so we couldn't get very close. But it was much larger than I expected, and of course I got pictures. I'm not sure what the Arc actually is (which I probably should've figured out before we went) but it was still impressive."

Commentary: I'd take back the "impressive" comment if I could. It's just an arch, really.

"I must say, the Eiffel is definitely worth seeing. It is absolutely massive. Prior to seeing it, I wouldn't have recommended ever visiting Paris, but the Eiffel is very neat. The very top was closed when we originally bought our tickets, so we just went to the second tier. Once we got up there, I had no desire to go any higher. It was already pretty darn high. The views of Paris from up there are absolutely amazing!! Paris is HUGE! Paris actually looked quite pretty from up there, because the buildings are so unique (just like from the movies) and you can't see all the poor people and graffiti. Speaking of graffiti, there is literally graffiti on EVERY building, I'm not even kidding.

Commentary: Yeah, all those poor people really bring a place down. Paris would be so much better if it were flooded with even more tourists jockeying for position to snap photos on their fancy Canons. Also, either Paris cleaned up its act since 2008 or I was blind this time around because I didn't see much graffiti. But the Eiffel was as cool as ever.

"Paris subways are pretty dirty and dark, whereas London's are all very bright, clean and they're mostly very large stations with escalators everywhere. Paris is mostly stairs, which gets difficult after a while."

Commentary: I'm an 18-year-old with the incredible opportunity to visit Paris and I complain about having to take the stairs? 

"[regarding Versailles] The palace is very ornate and historical. There is horribly tacky gold everywhere, but the views of outside are beautiful. The gardens are gorgeous. I have quite a few pictures of that, I think."

Commentary: No, Teresa, actually you don't. But for good measure, you made sure you got a close-up of your and your friend's faces.

 "We went shopping for a bit after Notre Dame, and then we went to check out the Louvre. Mom, Les, and Stac---that place is absolutely GINORMOUS! I can't imagine how horrible it would've been to go in there and see ALL that art ;) I took 3 videos of it to show you guys just how huge it really it. It's a very neat building on the outside, I must admit, but I think I can leave without ever seeing what lives inside."

Commentary: I went to the Louvre on my most recent visit, and I can tell you that what lives inside is an overwhelming crush of oil paintings and marble statues and the underwhelming Mona Lisa.

Sorry for all the sarcasm. It's just easy to make fun of myself. I'll share my poignant observations of Paris 2012 in my next post. Then in another five years you can read my even-wiser 28-year-old self's sharp-tongued remarks.

Un saludo,
Teresa