Our Trip to France

My family and I traveled to France during the summer of 2002. It was a trip I will never forget. It was very enjoyable.

First of all, I'd like to say that I did not notice any anti-American sentiment, despite what many people say about France. The people there were very nice. Unfortunately, I remember very little of the actual sightseeing we did. We went to museums, parks, and took strolls during the evening. It was still twilight at 10:30PM.

We spent the first few days overcoming jet lag, while visiting with my cousins from Sweden. It was difficult to put all the suitcases on the bus after the long flight, the time change, and being up for so long. My boys were two and four. They were very much interested in the new environment. We had to watch them unusually carefully. In Europe the windows on high floors in buildings were not child-proof, at least not at that time. That was quite scary.

We went on a fast train for the first time which was quite exciting. To my relief, it didn't make me feel any more dizzy than flying did. I was nervous, but quickly got used to it. As I looked outside, we passed everything much more quickly than the old-fashioned, slower trains.

Some of the food in France is quite unusual. They do have McDonalds' there. However, the pizza toppings are unusual. They have fried eggs as a topping on pizza. Many Americans find that bizarre, but they may think the same about our food. Apricots are eaten much more in France than in the US. They are often put in the form of desserts. At one restaurant, I was brave enough to eat rabbit for dinner. It was served by a nice British lady who moved to France.

Also, restaurant etiquette is different from it is in the US. In the US, they serve the food after everyone's order is ready. In France, it is served as it comes in. They don't wait till everyone's food is ready before serving it. The first time we ate at a restaurant there, I told them they forgot to serve my mom's food. No wonder they gave me such strange looks. Hopefully, they realized it was because I wasn't French.

As we were sightseeing. Many Japanese families stopped me to ask me to take a picture for their entire family. That was a lot of fun, and a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed helping them out. We had many nice conversations with Muslims who live in France, as well as other Americans who lived there for many years.

There were the usual frustrations of bringing the kids with us, though it was well worth it. I saw the amused look of the grocery clerk as my two-year-old touched one item after another. It was a very pleasant trip. We did some sightseeing, we learned about French culture, and most important of all, my parent, brother, kids, and cousins all connected with one another in an environment that was new to us.