Paris is a city so infamous and well documented by the writers and artists that have worked and lived amongst its iconic cafes and manicured parks that it seems to spark emotions even in those who have never visited. Everyone talks about the hustle and bustle of Paris, but we found the city full of quiet moments and swelling with a refined-feeling light, like some meticulously directed play we had walked in on. As you wander the curving Haussmann-lined streets and the stone bridges that criss-cross the Seine you stumble upon this famous patisserie, and that famous bookstore. Here’s where Colette lived and across the river is the Mona Lisa, then the Champs Élysées, the Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and just there is where Marie Antoinette was guillotined. To experience all the major tourist and cultural highlights would be an overwhelming and hurried task for one week, so we took it upon ourselves to see only a few and spent the rest of the time wandering, interviewing young people, and trying to take in the city as a whole rather than as a collection of been there, done thats.