“I went to Paris for the weekend.”- something I never thought I would be able to say.

The city of light. After four years of sitting and listening to Madame Moreland in French class, I finally made it to the country where I had so often daydreamed of going to. I finally got the opportunity to wander the streets of Paris, eat a baguette fresh from the oven, order one too many croissants, drink (a lot of) wine, and watch the sunset at the Eiffel Tower whilst eating macaroons. It was also the first (of hopefully many) trips that I will be taking on my own during my time abroad.

At first my french was questionable. I could read it just fine, but I had a little bit of trouble putting it to use in conversation. On the first day it came out as an interesting mixture of Spanish-French-Italian, but by the last day I was able  to hold a conversation with some of the locals and order my daily coffee and pastry. It is crazy how something that I thought I had completely lost came back to me so quickly. We will see how that holds up when I go to Italy…

I saw many things- one of the perks of traveling alone, I never had to follow anyone’s clock except for my own. I spent many hours in the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Versailles, Notre Dame, Montmartre, the Catacombs and in coffee shops. Even though everything was not very close together, and my hostel was really far away from everything, I figured out the Paris metro system and only managed to get lost once. I really like the metro system. Although driving has its appeal, there is something nice about being forced to think as you travel and having to interact with others on a regular basis. Human interaction on a metro can be very interesting, but I think that it has its value.

The main reason I chose to go to Paris the weekend of the 25th of February was because one of my favorite music groups, Oh Wonder, was set to perform at Le Trianon theater on the 26th. The venue is one of the oldest venues in Paris, and it is beautiful. The opening acts of Francis and Saint Sister were incredible. I had goosebumps.The stage lights and set up of Oh Wonder really vibed with their music and was really cool. I really like how they got started. They were living in a loft in London, and every month they would just create a new song for fun. Music for fun and not for profit. What a concept. They put on a good show and even acknowledged the Paris attacks because they had a show scheduled they night the attack happened. They handled it well and it was very appropriate.

Unlike all of the stories I have heard, the French people where very kind. Even though I often sat alone at a restaurant or a cafe, I never ended up being alone by the time I left. Paris, your  people, food, spirit, and scenery  are incredible. Keep it up. I am excited to explore more of you in the future.