Week four brought many adventures and different cultural experiences!

While my time in the United Kingdom has shaped many of my opinions of Europe, my experiences in Paris has shed an entirely new light on my views of the surrounding culture. I was able to travel over to Paris for a period of 3 days; it is extensively different than that of England from its people, to food, and even to the types of living quarters. The people in and around Paris are extensively more friendly then the everyday Londoner, by this I mean that the locals actually respond to a hearty hello, or good morning on my part. In addition they also smile, instead of the opposing no smile or attention that you would receive from the people in London. It seems that the people around Paris are on a slower pace than the individuals in London and take the time to see and respond to things around them including my visiting self. Secondly to the people of Paris was their food that accompanied them. They have the most amazing crepes, and I have never tried a savory crepe or any real crepe, it was the most amazing item I have ever had the pleasure of eating. It would be a lie however to say that all of their food choices were pleasurable to all humans, Paris even with its good food, had an array of odd food items that were different than anything I have experienced or seen in London as well as in the state. For example cooked snail, I personally did not try this dish, however some of the girls that I travelled with had the pleasure of tasting it, as you can imagine it did not go well. The people of Paris seem to be adventurous in the food department and often served items such as snail off their menu. The last cultural item I noted while visiting Paris was the homes in which people lived in. Prior to visiting I had imagined Paris to have tall buildings lined with small outer flower pots lining their windows as I had seen so many times in films. It would please you to know that the films for once were correct in there depiction of what Paris living quarters were like. Immediately after exiting the train I found myself sighting tall buildings with these exact flower pots outside of almost every window, it gave the city an Italian aura and it was absolutely beautiful to witness. This was in high contrast to the sightings of London homes as I had anticipated stone cottages and vast rolling hills, only to find small stone homes (some metal), while most of the city had been modernized.

Although the city was breathtaking in certain areas I was unable to ignore the vile underground transportation system and how vastly different it was In comparison to London’s underground. The halls were filthy, as well as the walk ways and rail lines. It smelled of horrible body odor and many times I saw bodies occupying the empty space to sleep. It was apparent that the culture of Paris does not rely on public transportation as Londoner’s do and therefore the maintenance is slim to none. Overall I would have to say that both Paris and London have unique cultures that are positive in different ways and I am grateful to have been able to experience them both.