O Paris. Que vous êtes la plus belle ville du monde! I wouldn’t even be able to begin to describe how much of a great time I had there; this blog would go on for quite a while longer than you probably have patience for. I absolutely adored our time in Paris.

From the hills of Montmartre to the Egyptian Obélisque in the Place de la Concorde to the Notre Dame cathedral, Paris is a monument to its own greatness and beauty. I had the opportunity to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and see the Sacré Coeur at night, as well as the hourly light spectacle of la Tour Eiffel. I think we all packed a lot of sightseeing and touristy-type events into our 3-plus-day stint in Paris, but every minute was worth it. Every sight is worth seeing, even if it’s just a small café on a corner with the only patrons being a welcoming old man and a couple of young lovers having a coffee and a smile.

For such a bustling international metropolis, Paris hasn’t lost its charm. Granted, I always have a hard time hearing more French than English while I’m there, but the French are quite proud of their legendary city, and they’ve done a great job of preserving it.

Oh, and I guess I should talk a little bit about what we actually did, shouldn’t I? I was able to make it out to Versailles to view Louis XIV’s castle, which was quite impressive to say the least. I had always known that the gardens were both massive and beautiful, but I had no idea how huge the castle itself was. And every room is filled with an all-but disgusting display of gilded ornaments, classic paintings, and picturesque views. In walking through Versailles, it’s obvious that Louis XIV had the idea that he WAS the state -- in fact, about 40% of the French government’s economy at the time went to Versailles. The population loved it, though, as the castle was a demonstration of France’s economic power and lifestyle. I wonder how something like that would go down today. :P

We also had a program at the OECD, one of the world’s leading entities in gathering demographic statistics on a plethora of issues, including children’s health. We learned many things about the health of American children (go figure, we’re obese and not doing well in national test scores), but some striking statistics came in the form of maternal mortality rates (well above the OECD average) and the fact that we’re physically shorter than other countries and shrinking while other countries are growing. That kind-of surprises me, because I’ve seen maybe 6 French people in my entire life who are taller than me, and I’m not that tall, but stats are stats, and they’re a great way of getting to the core of an issue.

Several people from the group had some qualms (with seemingly valid points, especially regarding the deliveries of premature babies; I just don’t know enough about that are one way or another to comment) with some of the statistics given about children in the U.S. and the lack of family policy that we’ve enacted. But Dr. Meyer wisely made it known that statistics, while imperfect, are the best thing we’ve got. The WHO itself said there’s no such thing as a completely perfect statistic in this day and age, but from what I saw out there, some interesting phenomena are taking place in our country. I also like the point that we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and while statistics are never 100% accurate, no one at the OECD is forcing the United States to enact policy one way or another based on them.

The bottom line is I really appreciated the dialog we had during the program, and I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience such an intensely informative (statistics can be daunting, but they did a great job of presenting them) and thought-provoking event.

Oh, and we were in Paris. The City of Lights. La plus belle ville du monde.

-Zach Spittler