Visitor's Survey

And so the parentals and the sister are readjusting to the U.S. time zone as we speak.  It was a fantastic week with relatively minor disasters (my dad's 24 stomach virus being chief among them), and a good time was had by all.

As you well know, I am an opinionated person, but what you might not know is that I come from a whole clan of opinionated people (poor AH is often the lone voice of agreeableness among us).  And so on our last night together in Paris, I decided to exploit this family trait and conducted an informal survey of the trip. Their answers to my queries are (loosely- I didn't have the foresight to write any of this down) as follows:

Let's start with the basics.  What was your favorite thing that you did this week?
T-Dogs*: Probably sitting outside at cafes, drinking tea and people-watching.
Llama**: Ditto.
Triple D***: Seeing your place and knowing that you don't live in the ghetto- I'm much less anxious about you living here now.  I also really enjoyed Normandy.

What was your most "touristy" moment?
L: Trying to speak Spanish to the waiters.
DDD: Wearing a bright red shirt.
TD: Wearing this plastic raincoat everywhere.
AH: I actually loved getting the chance to be a tourist.
Me: Yeah, it was great to not care one lick about blending in.  I loved wearing sneakers all week and taking a zillion pictures (485, to be exact), speaking terrible French and not caring about being judged.

What do you wish you had known before you came, or what would you have packed in hindsight?
TD: Wash cloths! [The hotel was very stingy with towels]
DDD: More shirts.
L: I wish I had known that "terrine" is not soup but things floating in aspic.

Was there a moment where you said to yourself, "Wow, I'm really in Paris"?
TD: Sitting outside at a cafe drinking wine at 3 in the afternoon- that is so NOT part of my American life.
L: Shopping in the Marais.
DDD: There was never a time I didn't feel like I was in Paris.  It's not a city I've ever given much thought to, so I didn't really have any expectations to begin with.

Best meal?
L: The chocolate crepe I ate yesterday. [author’s note: said crepe was eaten in the Tuileries under an awning during a downpour.  Llama had the misfortune of being seated closest to the elements, and the entire left side of her body got soaked.  Must’ve been a damn good crepe].

TD: It’s between the ravioli I had Sunday for lunch and the lunch I had today [vegetable tatin, beef, and chestnut cake].

DDD: The lunch we had in Normandy- the cheese, the free-flowing wine, the three desserts…

AH: I like food…?

*T-Dogs is the nickname inexplicably given to my mother by my best friend.

** Llama was a nickname given to my sister upon her birth by one of my uncles.  We are a strange clan.

*** Triple D is a nickname that my father earned at AH's bachelor party.  For the sake of his professional interests, I will not publicly posts its meaning.