Lets start off todays blog with some of the differences we have noticed about French culture.
1. Water- Once again water is not free. At restaurants in Paris we asked for tap water the staff looked at us like we were insulting them. We have noticed in Chamonix its acceptable to order tap water but not in the city.
2. Style- The french have an amazing since of style. They are definitely more formal than the US or Spain. Most men wear at least a button up every day, if not a suit. One of my favorite places to watch people and their style was when we were waiting in line at Moulin Rouge. Women wore anything from boyfriend jeans and heels to cocktail dresses. You can instantly tell someone who is from France by the way they dress and hold themselves. I have definitely learned that shoes are essential to a good outfit. You can spot a tourist from 10 miles away in tennis shoes and a dress.
3. Beauty- I have also noticed that women do not wear much makeup, simply mascara and maybe eyeliner and some lipstick. French women have wonderful skin and I believe its because there is such an emphasis on skincare. We walked through a Sephora and the skin care section was double the size of those at home.
4. Kindness- Before we left the US everyone told us that French people, especially Parisians, were rude. I found this to be completely untrue! As long as you say "Bonjour" and "Parlez vous anglais?" most people will speak to you in english and be completely normal. Even when we encountered people with a thick accent or who couldn't remember some words in english they were always kind and understanding. I don't understand why people think the French are mean. If someone came to America and didn't speak english we would treat them rudely as well. They expect the common curtesy of at least putting a small effort into French and then they are kind and helpful.
5. Food- Food is extremely important to the French! The prices of food are higher than Spain but the quality of food in any given restaurant is so much higher then the US or Spain. Even train/metro station food is excellent (we had it on more than one occasion). I have loved eating here!
Now for our day:
We woke up SUPER early and headed out on a bus for Chamonix. We all slept on and off for the first three hours. I took this photo from the first rest stop:
I didn't get much sleep after the first stop and spent the rest of the time studying and enjoying watching the French countryside roll past my window. As we approached Chamonix I got tired again and fell asleep, but Cal got some shots from the bus:
We arrived in Chamonix and it honestly felt like we got to a warm and beautiful oasis. Cal and I got our hotel room almost immediately and went to unpack and change. The room was so cute we decided to take a picture before we messed it up:
Cal, Sam and I walked around the small town and took tons of photos of Mont Blanc. We also wandered into a local grocery store and FINALLY found the marron (chestnut) creme that Lucy had told me about!
Had to take a photo of the creme with Mont Blanc in the background (PS it was so yummy):
We ate dinner at a small restaurant that the concierge at the hotel recommended. I got fondue and it was so delicious. We walked back towards the hotel and ran into this cute little bridge that I had to snap a photo of:
We got back to the hotel and chilled out and went to sleep. Hope you enjoyed our first afternoon/night in Chamonix, I'm in love with this little alpine town!
<3 Morg
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