Day 2 kicked off before sunrise, thanks to Matthew murdering a moth! Nothing says good morning quite like the sound of someone cleaning up the tiny cloud of moth glitter while you are still half‑asleep. Unfortunately Matthew’s body clock woke him at 3.30am, but the clean up happened around 5.30am. Fortunately for me that’s normal waking hours for me so we get up and watch some TV while we wait for the rest of the sleeping town to catch up.

Outside, the weather had completely changed personalities overnight. Yesterday was beautiful and warm. Today arrived with a thunderstorm that strangely sounded different to those back home and made the whole town feel like it was brewing a plot twist. Paris really committed to the part.

We headed downtown for coffee because caffeine is a non‑negotiable. The barista casually mentioned they get lots of Aussies. Honestly, that tracks. If there is a decent flat white within a 50‑mile radius, an Australian will find it with the accuracy of a heat‑seeking missile. This is pretty much the only place in town where they’ve said there has been so many. Everyone else has seemed like we’re the first they’ve met.

Not sure whether it was the moth killing saga or the journey over here, but Matthew’s suitcase had a crack in it. We debated the possible risks (of cause as a CRO he is used to assessing risk) and decided that now the suitcase is compromised, it wasn’t worth the possibility of his undies being spread across Sydney Airport’s baggage claim. Especially as he will be arriving back in the country with his Aussie passport for the first time, and I am not sure what the re-entry rules are about that, but we decide not to risk it and make the pilgramage to Walmart for a sturdy replacement.

While we were in search of the suitcase, we pass the vege crates and see the pile of onions. Now they say everything is bigger in Texas, and apparently onions were no exception. They were kind of crazy size, and I stop to think about recipes that require “1 onion” how significant this may change the whole dish if one of these were used.

We left the onions behind and a new suitcase was acquired. The old one was thanked for its service and quietly retired from active duty. We then set off for the first ‘official’ stop of the day: the famous statue of Jesus wearing cowboy boots. It’s in a cemetery which is creepy but fabulous. I would have loved to know the person’s gravesite it represents, with that kind of sense of humour I reckon we’d be great mates. Willett Babcock was a cabinetmaker, a member of the town council, and a theatre owner who clearly had a flair for the dramatic both in life and in death. There is something strangely wholesome about it, like even divine figures need practical footwear in Texas.

From there, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. Not the Paris‑Paris one, we would not have fitted a flight to Europe with our itinerary. The Paris‑Texas one, proudly topped with a giant red cowboy hat. And honestly, it works. It is charmingly extra, and somehow it just makes perfect sense.It is the kind of landmark that looks you dead in the eye and says, “Oui oui, but make it yeehaw.”

Next to the Eiffel Tower is a veteran’s memorial, complete with a helicopter, tanker and countless plaques remembering those who’ve served. It was also interesting to read about Dogs for Defense which was created after Pearl Harbor. American dog breeders and kennel clubs organised a national effort to supply trained dogs to the military for guard and patrol work. Of course, a statue for that too.

We then decided to wand around town in the cold, noses pink, ducking into shops partly for warmth and partly for the thrill of the unexpected. When you think about the small towns you see in the movies, Paris delivers like it’s been perfectly cast. There are cute spots and remnants of all the decades it’s been around.

The vintage mall, my first of many stops to fill my second suitcase brought along specifically for my Disney collectables I intend to buy this trip. I found some absolute Disney treasures tucked away like they had been waiting just for me. We chat with the owner who uses the word ‘uh-huh’ as an adjective, a verb and a pronoun. The Southern drawl included. He was super friendly and nothing was a problem. A common experience we are learning fast. A few yes ma’ams later and we decide to get out of the cold, head back to the AirBNB, defrost, get out of the next wave of rain and plot our attack for lunch and the afternoon. We’re staying walking distance to everything, so we could even just pop back for a wardrobe change if we wanted to.

We opt for a lunch at an Asian restaurant in town. The place was so much bigger than the clientele. We are told that there are 3 floors – not that we’re sure what they might be able to use all the space for but we are happy with our lunch and choose a couple of dishes. We’re checked on multiple times which probably has more to do with seemingly empty dining room than being an attentive server. But the food was good, and no complaints from us.

After some MSG-fuelled lunch, mid afternoon Matthew hits a jet lag wall. We collectively decide an afternoon power nap would be best for Matthew to be able to see the day out. I use the time to do some research for tomorrow’s change of location and where we might spend our final night for dinner. The alarm tried a couple of times, before I decided to ‘sing’ my way out of Matthew’s jet lag coma. A “Hannah-song” is never sung the same twice, you never know what genre it’s going to be….musical theatre? Rap? complete with choreography? It’s anyone’s guess, today was slightly pointed to guilt Matthew out of bed. It worked though!

After an little bit of TV we head out to see what Paris is like on a Saturday night – and it turns out it’s pretty quiet. We wanted to try a local place with great reivews, but at 7.30pm it was already closed, so we head for the bar we were at last night and it was pretty quiet when we arrived. That soon changed and we were soon surrounded by familiar faces from the night before and others filing in.

It’s quite the family affair. We get to meet the owners, the bartender (who was the owner’s daughter), her brother and her boyfriends parents. I’d draw you a family tree but that may be highly complicated. But it seems we’d been there for some 1st birthday celebrations. We even got to have some cake!

We also soon find out that its karaoke night and a couple of characters sidle up next to me to let me know one of said characters will be singing tonight. Travis was in a cowboy hat and Elvis glasses. He calls me ma’am a couple of times (or 12) and is soon up on the stage singing a song which apparently was a country anthem here – I had no idea and couldn’t sing along.

The fun tonight was real, the gratitude for a couple of Aussies visiting their little bar in Paris was real. After a couple of songs from the owners, Brandon and Kara, complete with wearing gloves straight out of the kitchen. I was cool with that, as long as they were replaced when he went back in. Shoutout to Vintage Hangout! Such a cool vibe.

The mystery of the name of the guy we’d chatted to was solved. Not that I am keeping score, but I was right *winky face* it was Jacob! And we met his other son too.

What a brilliant way to end our time here. We head home and plan out our route to our next destination and can’t wait to see what our next stop brings. We already love our next AirBNB host who’s making sure we can check in earlier and given us a lunch time recommendation when we land in Jefferson, Texas. Forecast is sunny and fantastic!

Thank you Paris, it’s been AMAZING!!!