I did graphiti in Paris?

In the United States graphiti is illegal...everywhere. That means you can be fined or even jailed for making art on the streets. But in France, there are certain areas (or maybe everywhere?) where you can practice graphiti legally. In Paris art is embraced, and is literally everywhere. Just walking down the street you will find museums, statues, and yes...graphiti. CIEE took us to a skate park where we met Hugo, a professioanl graphiti artist. He taught us how to use spray paint as there are many different techniques, and creating a straight line is not as easy as it looks! We decided to paint the phrase "J'aime l'argent" (I like money) because this piece was painted in a relatively wealthy and busy area. We hoped it would make people stop and think, or even reflect on how they feel about money. The graphiti came out beautiful, and in the pictures you can see a bunch of other graphiti that was painted before us. It was so satisfying when Hugo painted the black border, it really made the piece come to life! Most likely, someone else will come and paint over what we created, but I think that's beautiful. This piece isn't permanent, it's just something to help with reflection until the next work of art comes along.