Hi.

I’m in Paris.

Some initial reflections:

• There are lots of spiral staircases. Like there might be an ordinance when constructing buildings? I haven’t fallen down any.
• I should know more French. Though I just now remembered I have a translate app I could use to prep for retail interactions. I could have used “change room” today. But also pointing worked in this situation
• The metro is just like any other public transport anywhere and I like it.
• No one here cares, maybe even less than they do in London. But two people one two separate occasions apologized to me after running into me – or kindof just brushing by me- on the street.

The airplane ride here was long and agonizing and I’ll say no more on the matter in hopes that the memory is repressed before I have to fly home again. (Note: by “agonizing” I mean I was bored and impatient. I was in no way in pain, or anxious. I wasn’t hungry either! Vegan airplane food!)

Louvre Day

Today I went on a tour of the Louvre. I’m not typically keen on tours of art galleries because I have my own system of navigating these (I.e. “Weee!”). But the Louvre is ginormous and I thought some assistance would be helpful. Mostly I wanted to be sure to see the popular stuff right away. It turns out the tour was a good intro for be because there are so many people at the Louvre and had I attempted it the first time on my own I would have been frightened off.

It was cool to see the big arts there (Armless Venus, Mona Lisa) but i found that how I usually look at art was a little awkward? Like, me standing at the barrier and inspecting the details, looking for evidence of craftsmanship was in the way of a whole crowd of people trying to take selfies. I even almost forgot: after clicking a bunch of photos of Armless Venus I realized I hadn’t actually looked at here. Lucky that our guide gave us a while in that part of the gallery so I could get a good look at her folds and such.

In conclusion, too many people and just massive. I’ll go back because there’s more to see – but at my own pace. (I have a couple spare days this trip, but more likely during a future trip. Paris is pretty close to London.)