Shame on me

Today was my very first full day in Paris and I spent the day walking about the city. I intended to do one of my regular shop-walks, popping into stores and taking note of inventory, service and merchandising… but I was distracted. Paris is staggeringly beautiful. Sure, I was prepared for an elegant city… but not for this much beauty in one place. It's an embarrassment of architectural riches. Of course, I haven't even seen that much of the city before my feet wore out and I had to park myself at a brasserie for a Diet Coke and steak tartare. This will be a fun three months.

While I was growing up, my family traveled all over the United States, but I never went abroad until I was an adult. When I did, I ventured south to explore South and Central America, then explored China and Southeast Asia. I've seen a little bit of Europe – but have never been to Paris because I didn't quite believe everyone's waxing and tend to think I prefer more adventurous locations. Shame on me for taking this long to pay a visit to The City of Lights.

As a kid, I experienced foreign countries through film.  I'm an aficionado of old movies and walking around Paris, I couldn't help but think of Charade.  Many people mistake this as an Alfred Hitchcock film... it's not.  Cary Grant (as a dashing American) and Audrey Hepburn (as damsel in distress) fall in love while trying to recover her dead husband's fortune.  Henry Mancini's score is perfection.  The film is available on iTunes and tonight I'm rewatching.