An American Blogger in Paris: First Impressions

February 17, 2010  by Haven in Paris

Blogger Kari Geltemeyer is currently staying in Haven in Paris’ Livingstone Penthouse, and we were so excited to find that she’s been writing about her experience on her blog Litwit. It’s always so fun to see this city through someone else’s eyes, and first-time visitors like Kari often have a knack for recognizing the obscure details and nuances that are often overlooked by more seasoned Paris dwellers. We’ve selected some excerpts from her blog that highlight her decision to come to Paris and some of the discoveries she’s made here. We’re glad she took the leap!

Text and photos by Kari Geltemeyer

Day 1

When I say it’s a very big deal to come to Paris, I don’t say it because I’m an idiot, I say it because where I come from people stay in their places. And this can’t be understood, perhaps, unless you grew up in exactly the same way, in a town of 8,000 people and a family of seven in the middle of Wisconsin surrounded by dairy farms, where—when I was young, at least—nobody seemed to stray too far. It wasn’t done, it wasn’t much considered, and if it was talked about, it was something impossibly foreign and unbelievably expensive and certainly too far away to actually be real…  (To this day my parents’ reaction is “Ack! Paris! Alone??! Aren’t you scared!”) Of course I’m scared! That’s why I’m doing it. So when I say it’s a very big deal to come to Paris—as it was earlier to get to New York City and then London—I say it because as I sat in JFK alone Saturday night, after six months of planning and wildly enthusiastic anticipation, what every voice inside my head was telling me to do was go home… But I didn’t.

Day 2

Paris, today I found you! In my heart, I mean, outside the camera. Today I wandered through le Marais, and I sat still. It was cold and I sat at Glou and tasted the sea. I sat in the sun at Place des Vosges and felt the spring. I bought books in a little red shop and watched ice skaters outside a gigantic town hall. I turned corners not knowing what I would find there—walking occasionally antithetical to my purpose, just because I could—and around every corner was another small miracle, in some way large or small.

And now it’s official; now we are in love.

For more from Kari, check out her blog.

Written by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

Tags: Glou, Haven in Paris, kari geltemeyer, litwit, livingstone penthouse, Montmartre, paris blog, Place des Vosges, travel to paris
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