Paris is only the first part of our trip. After Paris we will take the TGV (Train a Grand Vitesse!) down to Grenoble, the city where I spent about eight months as a junior in high school. It has been almost 25 years since then (Am I REALLY that old?), so I'm sure a lot has changed. I'll be discovering the city all over again.
Paris is unlike the rest of France in the same way that New York City is unlike the rest of the United States. Each city is like an island unto itself apart from the rest of the country. In fact the region where Paris sits is called Ile de France, or Isle of France. It's interesting that much of New York City is also on islands. Yet each city is also like a concentrated dose of their respective countries. So it is nice to get away from Paris to truly experience France.
What you'll find getting away from Paris is that the food and wine as still (almost) as good, prices are cheaper, the landscape is more picturesque, and the people are friendlier. Parisians are in a hurry much like their American counterparts in NY. They haven't time to be friendly. (This is a stereotype just as we Americans hold our stereotype of those on the East Coast. It doesn't often hold true perhaps, but behind any stereotype lies a hint of truth.) They are also probably tired of American tourists acting like pigs. We Americans are loud, fat, and demanding. Okay, it's yet another stereotype that doesn't often hold true, but when you witness a loud, fat, demanding family being disrespectful in a French museum, you begin to understand why Parisians might be rude.
I say the food is almost as good because you probably won't find a lot of Michelin star restaurants in the French countryside. What you will find are the little mom and pop places where there are about four tables and the family lives upstairs and will offer to rent you a room if you wish to stay. Mom will serve a cassoulet that is out of this world. Pop will offer a couple wines that come from the next village over and make you try the herbal-infused digestif he has been making. There are regional dishes that you will find are better here than in Paris. The gratin they make in the region around Grenoble is simply incredible.
The scenery of Paris is great, but it is all because of the architecture. The landscape is relatively plain. (Though I do like the hilly Montmartre.) The landscape of the French countryside is beautiful. Watch the Tour de France this summer and you will see what I mean. Whatever day you watch, in whatever area of the country, you will see some stunning views. I was lucky enough to live in perhaps the prettiest part of France at the foot of the Alps. I was lucky to do some travelling around and see some other areas, mostly around the Vercors Mountains and Alps, but also in the Champagne region. I'd love to see the Loire valley, Normandy, the Cote D'Azur, Alsace.... The list is long but it will probably have to wait for another trip, sometime after I get this one paid off.
Paris is unlike the rest of France in the same way that New York City is unlike the rest of the United States. Each city is like an island unto itself apart from the rest of the country. In fact the region where Paris sits is called Ile de France, or Isle of France. It's interesting that much of New York City is also on islands. Yet each city is also like a concentrated dose of their respective countries. So it is nice to get away from Paris to truly experience France.
What you'll find getting away from Paris is that the food and wine as still (almost) as good, prices are cheaper, the landscape is more picturesque, and the people are friendlier. Parisians are in a hurry much like their American counterparts in NY. They haven't time to be friendly. (This is a stereotype just as we Americans hold our stereotype of those on the East Coast. It doesn't often hold true perhaps, but behind any stereotype lies a hint of truth.) They are also probably tired of American tourists acting like pigs. We Americans are loud, fat, and demanding. Okay, it's yet another stereotype that doesn't often hold true, but when you witness a loud, fat, demanding family being disrespectful in a French museum, you begin to understand why Parisians might be rude.
I say the food is almost as good because you probably won't find a lot of Michelin star restaurants in the French countryside. What you will find are the little mom and pop places where there are about four tables and the family lives upstairs and will offer to rent you a room if you wish to stay. Mom will serve a cassoulet that is out of this world. Pop will offer a couple wines that come from the next village over and make you try the herbal-infused digestif he has been making. There are regional dishes that you will find are better here than in Paris. The gratin they make in the region around Grenoble is simply incredible.
The scenery of Paris is great, but it is all because of the architecture. The landscape is relatively plain. (Though I do like the hilly Montmartre.) The landscape of the French countryside is beautiful. Watch the Tour de France this summer and you will see what I mean. Whatever day you watch, in whatever area of the country, you will see some stunning views. I was lucky enough to live in perhaps the prettiest part of France at the foot of the Alps. I was lucky to do some travelling around and see some other areas, mostly around the Vercors Mountains and Alps, but also in the Champagne region. I'd love to see the Loire valley, Normandy, the Cote D'Azur, Alsace.... The list is long but it will probably have to wait for another trip, sometime after I get this one paid off.
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