Jetlaggery

Think you'll be okay speaking English the entire time you're in Paris? Don't do it, they automatically hate you right away. I can't even tell you the amount of times I've gotten the stink eye speaking English. The only correct answer to, "Parles-tu Français?" is "Oui, oui!" Fake it till ya make it.

I've actually learned quite a few lessons today.

1. Taxi drivers in Paris love to rip you off if they think you're American. My cab ride from the airport to my hotel was already 20 Euros before I left the actual airport. The cab driver said this was because of the "Sunday rule" where the meter just goes up sporadically because no one's supposed to work on Sundays. This was such bullshark and I ended up paying 75 euros for a cab ride that should've been less than 40 euros. Words of wisdom that I wish I knew earlier: Don't take a cab out of the airport. There's a train that goes from the airport straight to the city for less than 10 euros. Or if you must take a cab, make sure it's a registered cab with the city of Paris. Those usually have a more reasonable fare than the cab I took, but hey at least I'm slowly learning.

2. Absolutely no one in Paris accepts large bills. Ordering with a credit card is actually a lot more difficult than you might think, and a lot of taxis don't even have a way of taking them. Most Parisians still embrace the idea of cold hard cash, and many businesses are unable to break bills larger than 50 euros. I only came with 15 euros of small bills and a 200 euro bill which kinda screwed me over. Make sure you have lots and lots of smaller bills when you travel. They'll come in handy if the banks are closed, which brings me to my next point:

3. Since most Parisians are Catholic, many businesses are closed on Sundays. If you're planning on eating a nice meal, I would go to the Jewish district. NO JOKE!! This area is actually poppin' on a Sunday afternoon, and we were able to get a nice meal at this French-Japanese fusion restaurant called NeoBento for less than 12 euros. Also, I'm literally in love with the man that owns it. He told us his life story over lunch. Apparently, he grew up in Paris and moved all over Asia to study the cuisine before returning to his homeland. He was super welcoming and a refreshing change from all the usual service we kept getting as American tourists. In Le Marais district, there were tons of Falafel places open as well, and it seemed like people were really into the idea of hummus for Sunday brunch since the lines for these places were insane. If you walk around, there's also a decent amount of shopping to do in this area. Tons of stores were having sales and we ran into some really cool French pop up shops. Also, what you really begin to notice is this incredibly beautiful architecture all around the area. If you have time, I'd check out the Picasso museum for some real works of art. Most of the museums in the area are free to students, a fact I stumbled upon when I got desperate and literally went to a random museum in order to admission to use the bathroom. I ended up wandering around and checking out a lot of cool street art afterwards though. The graffiti in the city is incredible, and there's so much talent all around me.

4. People in Paris eat dinner hella late and look at you crazy if you try to get dinner before 7 pm. Most restaurants were empty and didn't start filling up with lines until 6:30pm. However, me being jet lagged like crazy, I ended up eating before 5:30 PM. There's tons of great brasseries in Paris to choose from and we ended up going to Bouillon Chartier, one of the oldest brasseries in the city. For about 16 euros you can get a bottle of wine and an entree. We took advantage of their 10 euro bottles at dinner. Needless to say, I'm loving Europe and everything this city has to offer.

So hi, it's 8:37 PM and I've officially been awake for 36 hours straight. It's off to bed for me now so more about my adventures later. Au revoir!

#paris #frenchjapanese