Last days in Paris

Our last days in Paris are bittersweet.  We want to come home to see our family and friends, our new roof, our house, etc. but to leave Europe is really going to be hard.  We have become so used to a lifestyle that is built on art, beauty, smelling the "roses", that it will be hard to jump into "regular" life again.  But home we must come, and tomorrow at 1:35 PM we will board the cramped quarters of an airbus and travel back, arriving in C.R. at 8:30.  That seems short, but add 7 more hours when you figure it out.  If only we could afford 1st class.

We spent our last days seeing the Louvre (for the 3rd time), going back to the top of the Eiffel tower  and going back to Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame, all our favorite places here in Paris.  We carried in gourmet food for dinners and drank REALLY good wine that we have accumulated during our travels.  But most of all, we just walked and sat in cafes and watched the city around us.

Travel to another culture is so broadening to your own psyche.  I can say for both of us, it has given us a new understanding of the world and where we all came from.  Not everything works in France all the time, but people don't get angry when it doesn't.  Traffic is awful, but people don't get upset with it.  Bread and croissants are fresh, because that is a BIG thing for the people here and they demand it.  And all around, the locals are polite, friendly, and decent.  They are nice to their children in a very quiet way. And we can truly say, we have been very well treated even though we don't speak their language, know their customs, or understand their money.

So, hopefully, we can bring some of this civility back with us.  Au Revoir from Paris.