Retain your gasps, it’s true. Paris’s vaunted magic and charm doesn’t seduce everyone and when I met Edna Zhou, a 23 year old expat from Pennsylvania who has traveled extensively in Asia, just after she arrived earlier this year, I sensed the city would need to pull out all the stops to win her favor. She’s made a concerted effort to appreciate her surroundings but her relationship with Paris isn’t a grand love affair. Whereas I can envision my life in Paris forty years from now, she’s eager for the next adventure. Here, she explains why. I’ve never been a Francophile. I’ve never dreamed of long walks through Paris’s cobblestoned streets, or whiling away the afternoon at a café in Montmartre…or whatever else it is people dream about when they think about Paris. So when I received a job offer in the city and moved here eight months ago, I might not have been jumping up and down for joy. But I was open to loving Paris.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened. Most people I tell find the sentiment hard to believe. And just like you can’t explain love, I have a hard time explaining why I don’t love Paris. I like it…
