Pinterest in Paris

When people hear my mom isn't an American citizen, they typically assume she's Canadian. Actually, she was born in Italy. My sisters and I grew up listening to another language, communicating with grandparents who speak broken English, and getting visitors from Europe. It's part of who we are in a bigger way than most folks imagine. Of course, there is no comparison between the European Italian culture and the American-Italian subculture. (meatballs and heavy read sauces and pizza slathered in cheese. . .are Sicilian.) But I won't go there for fear of offending. :P All that to say, sometimes, when I'm going about my day-to-day life, it hits me; I have extensive family in Italy and France. We aren't French, but awesomely enough, my Nonno's (grandfather) brother moved to France as a young man, married a French woman, and yep. We have gobs of French cousins. So, with that in mind, and in honor of a good friend who is visiting France the moment I type this out (#sojealousitsinsane) here is Pinterest to the rescue: that wonderful, time-wasting, picture happy place that has taken me on many an adventure. :) Oh yes, and I'm crazy-excited to meet and share America with a cousin coming SOON from France. He'll be here a whole year, so not only we'll we get to show him around, but he's staying in NYC. . .and I am desperately hoping to visit. And see a Broadway show. Or two. Or ten.  . .

(all images courtesy of Pinterest. :) )

"France, and the whole of Europe have a great culture and an amazing history. Most important thing though is that people there know how to live! In America they've forgotten all about it. I'm afraid that the American culture is a disaster." ~Johnny Depp

 "In France, cooking is a serious art from and a national sport."  ~Julia Child

 "What an immense impression Paris made upon me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world!" ~ Charles Dickens

"A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life." ~Thomas Jefferson

"The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay, I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café." ~Oscar Hammerstein 11

"Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me. It was like remembering something I’d never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn’t know what. Maybe it was something I’d forgotten or something I’ve been missing all my life. All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris fall in love with me." 

~ the final vignette of Paris Je T’Aime

"Paris is always a good idea." ~Audrey Hepburn

Now, if you can't imagine yourself sitting at a Parisian cafe, or ambling through cobblestoned alleyways. . .eating a pastry, sitting under the gaze of the Eiffel Tower, or watching a sunset along the Seine. . .you need to comment and explain WHY. ;) Hope you enjoyed my little tour through wanderlust. Au revoir!