I LOVE Paris...NOT

Well, not really. But I do like it better than I did before.

So Paris turned out to be better than I though. I got some pretty nice pictures (if I do say so myself), the weather turned around and, most of all, I caught up with some people I didn’t think I would see again. The folks I caught up with, more than anything else, made the whole Paris adventure a little better than I thought.

But even with good people to spend the time with, better weather and a list of “insider” tips and tricks – there’s still something about Paris that bugs me. I don’t know exactly what it is.

It could be that the Parisians seem to take such a beautiful city for granted. There’s dog shit absolutely everywhere. I’ve seen more public urination on the streets of Paris than anywhere else (it’s like these people don’t own toilets or something). There are cigarette butts and litter all over the place. They city just seems to have this thin layer of “grime” on it. Maybe it just needs a good bath - like most of the people I had the pleasure of standing next to on the metro (it’s called deodorant people – I checked they sell it in France).

But I did get a better appreciation for the city than I had before. And, at night, Paris really can’t be beat. I know it’s called the ‘City of Lights” and all, but it is really something special at night. Just walking around along the Seine at night and seeing all monuments lit up – that was probably the highlight of this trip.

So that’s it for Paris. I left there on Sunday and then spent two days on a bus getting to Barcelona. Today was my first full day in Barcelona and I’m a fan. Architecturally, the city is amazing and I can totally see myself taking a ton of pictures when the weather gets a little better (it’s all overcast right now but supposed to get sunny later). There’s also a cool vibe to the city that I like (maybe that’s what I didn’t like about Paris – no vibe).

So they’re all very cool and hip here which I, as you all know, am not. They go out at midnight and stay out all night at big dance clubs with lots of people and loud music. Since that’s my definition of hell, I won’t be doing that. But I’m sure there’s something I can get up to here in good ol’ Barcelona.

The only down side to Barcelona so far is that it’s super crowded. Tourists love this place and they are everywhere. Now my patience for other tourists is pretty much exhausted now (I’m surprised it lasted this long). So the trick is to still see everything I want to see while avoiding the mass crowds (and the children in them) – we’ll see how that goes.