So it’s been a week. A week and a bit. And in this time I have managed to get lost, a LOT, get star struck (Kate Lanphear, Swoon), get on a fixie, fall off a fixie, fall in love with idea of zipping around the city on a fixie (even though the owner of said fixie says I “must learn to master a single spead before I can take on a fixed gear.” #annoyed.) and prove/disprove many a Parisian stereotype:

The people are not all rude, as some may claim. In fact, I have yet to meet someone who’s outright mean, though I will say that the French do have one mean stare. Enough to make you feel pea-sized in an instant.

The bureaucracy… well, even the people I’m living with who grew up in Paris tried to warn me that it would be an… interesting experience.

As for the berets – Parisians won’t admit to wearing them outrightly, but I’m at 4 in my counting (but they could possibly be tourists…) And people do in fact walk down the streets with baguettes – though they hold them in their fist and not under their arms – while eating them.

I’ve also had some fun running around the city with my camera.