It’s a well known fact that I have just a smidge of my mom’s type A personality. So of course I approach my tour guiding duties here in Paris with a certain level of intensity, unloading facts and tidbits and trivia on my guests at every turn. I figure a little context goes a long way, right?
Unfortunately, since it is only just a smidge of type A, I don’t often do a lot of fact checking before I start opening my big mouth.
But seriously, when there’s a medieval church or classical statue on every corner, what are you supposed to do? I can’t very well admit that I have no stinking clue what half of that stuff is. My guests would be disappointed. And type A’s don’t disappoint guests. Oh no, they forge ahead with the utmost confidence and hope you don’t check Wikipedia later.
So when Chris and Anna came to visit, the faux-facts flowed like the Seine. I wanted them to have a really good time ! To discover something wonderful ! To totally fall in love with the history of this city ! Thus they learned many interesting things, like :
– The whole French royal family was totes guillotined during the revolution. Yeah! Even the kids! And that was the end of the monarchy in France.
– Sainte-Chapelle isn’t that old, it’s just got some big stained glass windows.
– That *insert random imposing building here* is the Grand Palais. It houses congress/a museum/Nicolas Sarkozy.
– Northern Ireland is definitely not a part of the UK.
– The actress that played Miss Geist in Clueless? Totally the same lady that played Miss Davis in Varsity Blues!
Amazing, right ? Paris is just full of surprises. I really think Chris and Anna enjoyed their educational foray into French culture and will share this incredible learning experience with the folks back home. And the next time they visit, I hope to dive deeper into the longstanding history between the Eiffel Tower and Quasimodo…
Unlikely Diplomat 