The Last Time I Saw Paris...

...I was 15 and not really the picture of detached elegance that I wanted to be. What is it about Paris that makes me feel like I will be stoned for not being stylish enough? Ok, maybe not stoned, but at least snubbed, which is pretty painful for a girl who idealizes the French so much.

Because I'm sure we were the first ones to do this pose here.

That's right, I love France. Freaking love it. I don't care how they felt about the war, or whatever it was that caused people to use the term "Freedom Fries" (urrrgh.) In recent years, I have become semi-obsessed with Paris and now that we're going there, I am close to losing my mind with excitement.

But not. Because in Paris, you have to act like you don't care. Oh, is that the Eiffel tower? What an atrocious metal asparagus. Let's go sip something for three hours and pretend like I'm not having a panic attack that the waiter is going to get angry at me.

As if this is going to help me get my Parisian jadedness on, we have been exclusively watching films that feature Paris: Funny Face, An American in Paris, Sabrina, Paris When it Sizzles, Midnight in Paris, Hunchback of Notre Dame...and plans for many more. I think know that David is getting sick of this, but I'm just getting more and more excited, imagining the song-and-dance numbers we will be performing at various scenic locations to crowds of delighted on-lookers.

When we were gathering Paris-themed movies to watch, I came across the seminal Mary Kate & Ashley classic, Passport to Paris, and bought it for $1. I have a pretty good sense of humor about bad movies, but this was just....we didn't make it through. As David's sister Katie said, "Sometimes things that you enjoyed in the past are better left in the past." So we will probably not be watching anymore MK&A flicks. I mourn the loss of my childhood. No, I don't.

We are trying to watch Austria-themed and Switzerland-themed movies as well (since we'll only be in Paris for half the trip), but there don't seem to be as many of those, except The Sound of Music, which I am very excited to watch because it will probably remind me of my steamy* first kiss.

*My first kiss was not steamy. It was, however, during the musical The Sound of Music, and after it happened and Rolf ran off stage, I had to say, "WHEEEEEE!" like it was the greatest thing that ever happened to a person.**

**It was not the greatest thing that ever happened to a person.***

***No offense, Tim. This is not a reflection on your particular skills. And we are still best friends, obviously, as this hideous picture of my enormous head in a different musical reflects:

Hey, that's cute. Wait, no it's not. It's really, really not.