we are the champignons

Otherwise known as that time we went to Paris.

I've never been so afraid to speak in my entire life. I don't speak a lick of French. On top of that, the only only two words I do know, bonjour and merci, were so poorly pronounced that the Parisians who had to come in contact with my awful French immediately switched to English, much to their irritation. I spent half my conversations there apologizing to French people and the other half asking Mattie for help. It wasn't my favorite stop.

But it was so so so beautiful, and the butter was so so so good. And the men were all so cute in the skinny French kind of way. And well dressed. I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard, sorry. It's a city worth a revisit, and I hope I get to go back someday...but with French speakers.

Some key points:

• The wine we're drinking in front of the Eiffel Tower was really cheap but not good. All because we didn't have a bottle opener. Shame on us.
• I think we redefined cheap. At the hostel, we had an assembly line fashioning sandwiches out of the bread, ham, and cheese provided at the free breakfast. Oops.
• Climbed the Arc de Triomphe for free thanks to Mattie's basic French.
• Saw the Moulin Rouge at night (not filmed because my phone died). It is definitely not as romantic as the movie makes it seem. It was in the seediest area.
• Lingerie shopping in Paris is so fun.
• Paul is a born tour guide.