Paris

We just arrived in London from a few days stay in Paris, however the next few posts will be full of pictures from our stay there. While in Paris we stayed with the Hougaard family, a family that the Lanes came to know and love while the Hougaards were posted in Zim for the State Dept. From Zim, they went to Mauritania, and now they are in Paris. Michael, the father, is currently posted in Afghanistan, but will return to finish his posting in France next year. Victoria and her sons were wonderful hosts even though they were busy with their own daily schedules and we had a blast! Their apartment is huge, a few blocks away from the Champs Elysees, and really in an ideal spot to experience Paris. The first night we got there, Mikaela and I took a walk up the Arc de Triomphe and marveled in the massive structure looming over the rest of the city.

The next few days were spent sorting out our luggage problems (the two main bags didn’t arrive on time, and when they did we found both the zippers had been ripped off with the locks still intact. Everything was clearly rummaged through, but nothing aside from my jeans seemed missing) and walking around the city! I think our record was going from the Hougaards house (porte Maillot) to Notre Dame and the Latin quarter (over 4 miles) for one of the days- and needless to say after sitting around in Zimbabwe for a few months, my feet needed time to get back into shape!
Going from third-world to first world took a little getting used to. The first thing that I noticed was the space, and how it was (overly) defined. The amount of people here is staggering; after being in Zim with the relatively empty streets, and spacious properties, the close parking jobs and cement jungle of Paris was a bit unnerving. There is no space, no land that isn’t developed! You might think me weird for thinking that, but after being in Zim with miles and miles of undeveloped land, you forget how it is in the rest of the world. You forget that order requires control; something that can be maddeningly (and sometimes conveniently) absent in Zimbabwe.


It still blows my mind that every tree is preselected and planted on purpose, every blade of grass is kept in check, and flowers are also controlled. But in the first world, there aren’t powercuts, and you can always get a fresh baguette in time for dinner.

Plus it doesn't take 30 minutes to upload a single picture on the blog!