Expert: Use part of first trip to beautiful Paris to plan your second trip

PARIS — Tamara Vaifanua has only been in Paris for KSL TV’s Olympic coverage for a little over two weeks but she said she has learned a lot.

She said from walking around the city, meeting people and taking in the sights, she has learned that Parisians are really good at the art of slowing down.

“It’s a fascinating place to people watch,” she said. “I tend to walk fast, rushing to get from point A to point B. Here people tend to walk slower, not constantly in a hurry.”

She found that Paris has a café culture where people enjoy each other’s company and delicious food, and, they are usually not on cellphones. Oliver Gee moved to Paris from Australia ten years ago. He’s the host of the popular podcast, The Earful Tower.

Gee said in Paris, there is a big emphasis on enjoying life and that value reflects in everything Parisians do.

“I worked in an office in Paris in a same building as a bunch of architects and they would cook lunch and sit there with red wine, and it would take an hour and half in the office,” Gee said.

“People watching is a national sport. You sit on your terrace of your café and just watch the world. I think taking that time to enjoy the food, the culture, the language, the museums is a secret we can all learn from.”

Gee’s advice for visiting Paris for the first time is to see the tourist attractions but to save some time to just walk around. He said there’s so much beauty just on the street that you’ll start planning for your second trip and take the time to see all the other hidden gems Paris has to offer.