A weekend in Paris…

You know that place you always dreamed of going, and you were just waiting for life to take you there? That place you used to see in your textbooks in middle school that seemed so distant and unimaginable?

That place for me was Paris.

“Traveling. It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller”

– Ibn Battuta

2/3/17 •• 2/5/17

Adjusting is a weird thing. For the most part we spend our young lives in once place. We go to school, come home, we have a routine. We get comfortable.

I didn’t know that this would happen to me while here in London. I didn’t know I would be so lucky to ever consider this place my home. I got comfortable. So on Febuary 3rd I left my little home in London, and went on my merry way to Paris.

When stepping off the train into Paris, I couldn’t keep my smile down if I tried. My eyes were popping out of my head and I could not wait to step out onto the cobblestone streets. Little did I know this would be before reading a caution sign that read “WARNING: 192 steps ahead” and having to lug my obnoxiously heavy duffle bag through the busy and crowded metro station.

I could paint a pretty picture of my weekend in Paris and pretend it was all peaches and dandelions, but how boring would that be to look back on years from now? I want to remember the time we were walking in the freezing cold rain and hail for 2 hours to get to the Eiffel Tower to catch it sparkling at 11:00 pm on the dot, or that really fun time when I decided to break in new Stan Smiths and later discovered blood stains on my new white shoes from being in so much pain. Ya know what I mean?!

However Paris, you were right. You are just as magical and perfect as you make yourself out to be, and I can’t wait to see you again.

Its hard for me to pinpoint what my favorite part of the weekend was, but you know I will happily try and tell you several anyway.

Remember in the beginning of this post when I mentioned seeing those pictures in your textbook that seem so surreal? That was the Eiffel Tower. The most magical sight I have ever seen. Not only at night when its sparkling from top to bottom, but in the daylight when you have tears streaming down your face from the cold while simutaenously eating a banana nutella crepe (yeah. this was as perfect as it sounds). I don’t know how big or small I expected the Eiffel Tower to be, but it was beyond my wildest dreams. I stood there for a few minutes just simply staring, taking it all in. I found myself doing that a lot this trip.

On Saturday we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. This was also larger than life and so beautiful (the Arc de Triomphe and the Louis Vuitton store I blacked out and ended up in). Did I mention the part where Amanda and I made a Louis purchase and then were served champagne? Yes, that also happened.

I believe our sales woman’s words were, “Would you ladies like some champagne to calm yourselves down and relax?”. We then sipped (chugged) our champagne and lived above the clouds for the rest of the day♥

After doing some thinking, only a few words would accurately describe my weekend in Paris.

Magical. Croissants. My four years of French have failed me.

I left Paris feeling inspired, in awe, and happy to be going home to London. Paris was just the beginning of my travels and that feeling in itself is hard to explain.

Now its time for the photos. However, let me preface this by saying, don’t try this at home folks. Meaning, don’t stand in the middle of a major highway to get a photo under the Arc de Triomphe, don’t jump on an extremely high ledge to get a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower, and you probably shouldn’t hold macaroons over a fourth floor terrace.

Unless you really want to. Heck, who am I to judge.