Getting the flavor of...

The other Paris

A large cowboy hat sits atop the 65-foot Eiffel Tower in front of me, said Jordan Breal in Texas Monthly. It’s an impressive sight, though no one would mistake it for the real thing any more than they’d confuse Paris, Texas, with its more famous namesake. This town of 25,000 on the western edge of the Piney Woods playfully embraces its Gallic connection, though. As I walk through the historic downtown plaza, I encounter T-shirts emblazoned with rhinestone Eiffel Towers and a bottle of Paris, Texas, eau de parfum. I also enjoy delicate pastries at the Paris Bakery and admire French farmhouse–style furnishings at Monique’s Antiques, whose owner is an actual native of the better-known Paris. Still, what stands out about this Paris is “simply its Texanness.” The town is full of small shops and good cooking, and no visit is complete without a trip to Evergreen Cemetery to see the “cross-hugging, cowboy-boot-wearing Jesus” on its most famous headstone.

France’s gift to New York Harbor

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“I have seen many of this country’s most beautiful natural wonders, but the interior of the Statue of Liberty took my breath away,” said Karen Farkas in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Visitors to the statue’s crown can look out over New York Harbor, but the formidable skeleton and copper skin of the iconic figure impressed me more. Only 365 people are allowed to climb the 162 spiraling steps to the crown each day, so reservations are recommended. But the ticket adds only $3 to the cost of visiting Liberty Island and its museum, which features the torch the statue bore until it was replaced during a 1984–86 renovation. On the December day when we visited, several thousand people waited with us to catch a ferry back to Lower Manhattan, and the lines there snaked into the street even though the island was closing for the day. That’s how rewarding the boat trip itself is, but it didn’t approach the thrill of our climb.