Open to something new

In A Little Tour of France by Henry James, he begins this book with a bold statement. The book is about him traveling around different provinces in France. He ends the book on his travel to Paris, France.

When I told everyone that I would be in France for awhile, the first question that everyone asked was the distance between my new home and Paris. No one seemed to care that I would be staying in Strasbourg, the Christmas capital of Europe. Everyone seemed to ask about Paris.

Since I have been over here, I have been to Paris twice. Both times, I didn’t fall in love like most people said I would. I expected the place to be the best thing my eyes have seen but it wasn’t. For many reasons, I am happy to say I like Strasbourg more. Of course, I could navigate Paris a little easier but I believe the downsides outweigh the good things. However, I have been to beautiful places in France. A trip down to the beach, was one of the best trips I have taken. I can’t say that it is my top city because I liked a lot of the cities for different reasons but Nice and Monaco are definitely some of my favorite places.

After visiting Paris and other cities in France, I can now agree with James when he said “France might be Paris, but Paris was by no means France”. When I first read the statement, I didn’t completely understand what he meant. I had already visited Paris for a long 4 day weekend, but I couldn’t relate because I had not visited other places in France. Of course, I haven’t visited all of France but Strasbourg, Colmar, Nice and Monaco have shown me that France has a lot more to offer than just Paris. I guess only people who have experienced other things can make that bold statement, but since I am one of the few I stand by it. Nevertheless, I am still open to exploring other regions in France so that I can completely relate to James’ statement.