Paris and the Smoking is Easy

Paris the city of lights really means the city of lighting up. How quickly I forgot what life was like living around people who are smoking all the time everywhere. When we arrived yesterday and had our first lunch in an outdoor cafe by our hotel I was swathed in smoke by the two young girls sitting next to us. As we walked to the Luxembourg gardens we were practically the only threesome on the street without a cigarette.

The light in Paris is famously hazy which makes photographs have that gauzy look that soften wrinkles and makes you look younger. That haze is actually smoke from the thousands of people per block standing or walking on the sidewalk puffing away.

All this unhealthy living rubbed off on me for my first twenty four hours here and I ate macaroons and bread like I was a skinny Parisian. Then last night I began to feel sick from the smoke and the food and I came to my senses and realized I am a reformed unhealthy person who needs to steer clear of all indulgences. I did much better today skipping bad food at breakfast and lunch and only indulging at dinner.

I finally had a 20,000 step day thanks to shopping, but boy were each of those steps expensive. Carter got tired of sitting in stores so we let her take the Metro back to the hotel which was the most exciting part of her day. Being free in a city is a teenagers dream. I am happy to say she did not take up smoking in her quest to go native.