What holds it together?

We’ve only scratched the surface of Europe (three countries) but already we’re amazed at how distinct each country still is today. When you think about the pressures that are on countries to assimilate just by nature of proximity, and the sheer amount of time… I mean we’re talking thousands of years. I can see the caution applied to entities like the EU, but I will say that having a common currency, at least, is perfectly wonderful from a tourists perspective. And the 2€ coin is really useful!

I kinda thought things were a bit more homogenized but I’m very glad they’re not.  Paris is still, as our Dutch waiter at an Italian pizza spot in Montmartre said, “crazy intense.” Tons of tourists out there the past two days, but he said it’s actually a relatively quiet time because a significant enough portion of Parisiennes are on vacation. So the problem is definitely them, not us!

In other news, we overslept and missed our first window to visit the Louvre. By the time we arrived, the line was 2km long in the hot sun.   It’s closed tomorrow and we have Reims on the schedule Wednesday, so our next window is Thursday; we’ll be there bright and early.

Instead, we visited Notre Dame and a few other sights.  A nice day of sightseeing and relaxing.