Arc de Triomphe, originally uploaded by Niamheen.

Yes Internets, Mollytics is going to Paris!

I’m so excited, which is not a shocking statement. However, if you know me, you know I have previously held a slight aversion to Paris. Why? Pull up a chair and read on.

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Paris three times in my life. In fact, my kick-ass aunt and uncle took me to Paris for my first european adventure when I was 13. It was so exciting for me – traveling abroad, flying first class (my aunt flew all the time for work so we used her miles), speaking/hearing another language, exsisting without my parents for one whole week, the art!, the eiffel tower, the art!, the food… It was almost too much for me to handle. And at 13, I knew how lucky I was.

The trip totally lived up to all I’d hoped it would… except for the Parisians. They were basically mean.** I know that’s stereotyping, but that was my experience. I was excited to try out my beginner’s-level French on them, and they were having none of it. They weren’t friendly. Or particularly helpful. Still, it was a great trip.

Fastforward a couple of years to high school when I went not once, but twice to Europe with American Music Abroad. These experiences alone would result in a short novella, but for the purposes of this blog post, I’ll just say that both experiences involved Paris.

When traveling as a high schooler with a group, you basically have no freedom. So my day-long visits to Paris were much more sheltered and involved little-to-no interaction with Parisians. Therefore, I enjoyed the city much more.

Fastfoward again to my semester I spent in Rome, Italy. Romans were the complete opposite of Parisians, in my opinion. They loved it when I tried out my rudimentary Italian on them, and they rewarded it with wine/shots of grappa/food. When I mixed up Spanish with my Italian, they smiled and rewarded me with wine/shots of grappa/food. When I said “grazie,” they rewarded me with wine/shots of grappa/food. Amazing, and very welcoming.

During this semester, a bunch of us traveled on a ten-hour-train ride to southern France (Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo). I wasn’t that psyched about it mostly because I didn’t think I liked France.

Uh… wrong.

Southern French people were just as kind and welcoming as Italians. This confused me. And, when I went back to southern France with my mom a few years later, I loved it even more.

So here’s what I think: Maybe I was just too young. Maybe I was just too immature to understand culture, historical context, and societal norms. Maybe I was just being judgemental (me? never!). So I’m ready to give it another shot. I’m more than ready, I’m stoked (am I too old to say that?)!

If you have ANY tips on where I should go or what I should see while I’m there, I’d more than welcome them in the comments below. It’s been fun loading my google reader with Paris-specific blogs, but real-life recommendations are always better.

** Am I going to get hate comments for my views expressed here? I sincerely hope not.