flying in

I pressed my nose to the window as I peered down to a patchwork of yellows, greens and browns dotted with little villages of white houses with cheerful red roofs. Every so often, a grey chataeu would pop up between the nestling towns. 

I was surprised at the surrounding countryside of Paris. While Paris is a huge metropolitan city--it's surrounded by seemingly insignificant villages and farms. Landing in Charles de Gaulle looked similar to Nebraska: flat and dry. The only difference was the French signage.

Getting on the Metro, the Paris I imagined had still not appeared. The train roared through industrial areas that were obviously

 European but still no carved statues or gargoyles until we got off the train in the center of Paris.

Emerging from the Metro station was incredible. Cobbleston

e streets, narrow alleys and cafes surrounded by wrought iron gates and planter boxes spilling flowers of all varieties.

Just as I pictured Paris.

My mom told me that little had changed from 1978 and really little has changed in the last several years. As we pulled our wheel-y luggage over cobblestone, I was struck by the age of the city. Seattle was incorporated in the 1800s...Paris was given its name in 212.