Paris

It's my second trip here, and I've concluded that Paris is the Adele of cities. Everybody loves her, and I completely understand why; she's just not for me.

My first time here, I hated it. I spent one day strolling around, trying to do and see everything that a tourist isn't supposed to. Rather than enjoying myself, I just got desperately lost and rained on. Lots of people told me I needed to try Paris again, though, so I've returned for another couple of days.

I got in yesterday afternoon, and spent the rest of the day drinking wine. That part was pretty good. Uneventful, not the greatest time I've had in a city, but nice enough. So I decided that I'd spend today doing all the obligatory tourist activities... and then go back to drinking wine.

I saw some lovely things -- La Tour Eiffel, Sacré Cœur --but I really hate being a tourist. Even worse than the other tourists themselves are the assholes who prey on tourists. All day long I had to deal with high pressure sales and people wanting me to sign their petition (or whatever it was). I don't care how worthy your cause is or how cheap your tchotchkes are, if you try to force a pen/item into my hand, you're not getting my money or my name on your piece of paper, and I will be very rude to you.

By far the worst encounter was with a guy wanting to tie a string on my arm "for Africa." I politely declined, so he grabbed my jacket sleeve and attempted to do it anyway. I jerked away, and said no rather forcefully. He started to reach for my arm again, then thought better of it, perhaps because he realized he was a split second away from getting punched.

Having survived the worst tourist traps, I moved on to the Centre Pompidou. After waiting in a very long line (and shamelessly using their wifi to entertain myself in the meantime), it turned out the art gallery was closed, and I didn't have a ticket for what everyone else did. I was turned away. That meant an afternoon similar to my last one in Paris: wandering the streets along the Seine, snacking on a baguette, checking out the Louvre (also closed, Paris hates Tuesdays), and not really having that spectacular of a time.

In the end, I don't hate Paris anymore, but I don't love it either. It's just not my thing. I'll take a London or a New York over it anytime. Still, I'm glad I gave it another shot, because the wine? I really do love the wine.