oh paris. strangely, i didn’t think i would like paris as much as i did. i’ve been to quite a few cities in my day… san francisco, new york, london, dublin, los angeles… and for the most part every city is a city. but paris was just extraordinary. the history, the beauty, and the romance that truly floats through the city is breathtaking.
our entire api group, all 40 of us, arrived in paris around 8pm on friday night. we took a bus to our hotel, the novotel, and quickly met for dinner. api treated us to a 3 course meal. it was amazing to have a free meal but i was slightly disappointed with the food. it included a delicious salad, then a sub par spaghetti bolgonese (french food? ehh) and an interesting fruit/yogurt dessert. but nonetheless, it was free and a free meal is always lovely.
we then broke up into smaller groups and went to explore the city at night. i was with a group of maybe 6 girls and we walked all around the city. we stopped along the way to take photos of beautiful things without even knowing what we were photographing. and we finally made our way to the eiffel tower. it really is a majestic piece of metal. i have heard over and over that it’s overrated, but i disagree. it’s beautiful. we stayed long enough to see it sparkle and again, my mind was blown.
we then stopped for a hot chocolate and made our way back to the hotel. we woke up bright and early saturday morning and were off to explore the city. api graciously purchased everyone 48 hour hop on, hop off bus tickets and we planned to find the bus. unfortunately, said bus stops were essentially invisible to us. we spent at least an hour searching for the bus stop, then another 45 min trying to figure out the metro before caving in and taking a taxi. i feel like i saw more in one day that should have been possible.
we visited the catacombs.
we went to notre dame.
we visited the lourve museum.
we ate crepes.
and we ended the night on a cruise through paris with wine and chocolate.
and then sunday morning, we woke up a little bruised from the night before and made our way back to the airport. in terms of planning, the trip was too quick. i’m sure there were reasons, but we all felt that we should’ve left earlier on friday and later on sunday. it really just didn’t make sense that we only had one full day in the city. but hey, it was still fun.
my trip to paris was one of those trips that i just know i will never forget. i honestly think i can feel my eyes and my mind growing as i keep having the opportunity to see so many new, beautiful, interesting places. i don’t have a single complaint about life, life is goodly.