Thursday, August 25, 2011

... and they say the French are not nice...


I don't believe in stereotypes. No. That's wrong. Scratch that. After visiting Paris I am convinced that stereotypes can come true. That's not to say that all stereotypes are correct, or even that they apply to all (or even most) people of a certain category. But they are true, at least at some level.

Most anglophone people that I encountered traveling made mention that the French weren't very nice, that people were either rude or short with them. But these people were also ones that didn't speak a lick of French, nor attempted to either. And though I did encounter some rude Parisians (shocking!) I found that most were beyond friendly. But I really think it was my basic grasp of the French language that helped me make friends.

The first friend I made was an ex pat from DC. Reggie had been living in Paris for eight years, and had been an artist for almost thirty. We talked about life and everything else, from language barriers to Paris. It was unfortunate that he left for a visit to the states the morning after we met...


The next friends I met were at my second hostel. They had all done some time in Barcelona studying abroad, and had decided to take a trip to Paris after schooling was done in order to have a little more fun...



We also met a couple of guys, one being an employee of Aloha (the hostel), the other (Rafael) a traveler from Venezuela.



But the first true friends I made were these guys - Dan and Momo. (I don't really know who the guy in the middle is). We met one night @ mon p'tit chou (the Eiffel Tower). I struck up a conversation with Dan at first, and when they asked where I was staying (and I revealed I was planning to stay there at the park) they insisted that I would stay with them...





I ended up crashing at Momo's for three days, and later in my trip even met some friends of his (Farid and Fly)


And as much fun as I had with Momo and Dan throughout the trip (and as much as I saw them) it was the time spent with two Canadian girls that helped make my trip. Courtenay and Amanda came from Ottawa, and their first stop happened to be in Paris, at Aloha, and at that time. We hit it off immediately...



we even posed for silly pictures...





...and met some funky people together - a Saharan painter...


... and Bertrand and his friends (one of which might have been named puke)


All in all I dont know that the trip would have been nearly as phenominal without them...


One night I decided to sleep under the bridge, and met Camilo and this dude...


My last friend made in Paris was Cyril, a Frenchman from the south who had lived in Berlin and London, was a Buddhist and had made a pilgrimage to Portugal. He invited me to stay at his uncle's apartment, and it was a great way to unwind the end of the trip. It also provided me the opportunity to have some really good philosophical conversation about the grand scheme of things...


Who says the French aren't nice?!

1 comment:

  1. Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! Oh, did I mention WOW? What an amazing experience - you are the NICEST and FRIENDLIEST person I know (and adorable, too!) - just a little prejudice on my part - ha, ha!!

    Do you think you'll meet up with these new friends again? I'm sure one (or a few of them!) would love to couch surf in Chicago!

    xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo MoM

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