In 2015 I went to Paris for 2 days or something but since then I feel connected to that city. It's corny and fairy tale like but that place is special. The art!! The smells & the history! The language & the food! <3 I realized I never posted anything about my time there which is strange because it felt like an important part of me understanding myself. It felt like I was in a real world where I could be myself. It had the completely opposite vibe than Southern California. I'm gonna share some magical (pardon the princess word but I'm embracing that vibe right now) pictures I was able to take there: As we arrived (by overnight train from venice-do I live in a dream??) I could not WAIT to see the Eiffel tower. The real one. The actual one. I was stoked. I wish I had taken AP European History before going on this trip because I (unknowingly) went to so many culturally and historically deep places. I wish I had been way more educated on it all. Paris had a way of making me feel like I was in a new, different place. Often when I've traveled, it feels like I can't really escape anything. It all feels like the same place, under the same sky, just with different decorations. Am I alone in feeling this way? Paris didn't feel like that, though. It got into my soul for a minute. I was in a new world. I was in love with it. Yes, I am romanticizing it all a bit. But that's kinda the spirit of it all. It's accepted and embraced to be romantic about things. It's refreshing! If I could go back there right now I'd do a couple things differently. I'd stay much longer. I'd do less. I'd read more, and I'd try to see all the art. And, maybe I'd embrace some religion or education there. Really its all just hindsight bias or something. I'm retelling my experience from 2 years ago. It's mostly foggy, but still feels important. That's the "story" aspect of it. Above is a picture of me and Chloe. I was really lucky because on this trip we became ridiculously close. I think I knew her for max. 30 days of my life (so far) and I feel like she's a very close & deep friend. Travelling with someone is a unique experience. We laughed SO much, and we cried, and we exchanged stories and music, and ultimately helped each other to have a wonderful trip. We got in trouble more than a few times for sneaking off and doing our own thing. We wanted to enjoy the places we were without 4-6 people with at least one boy in each group. One of my favorite stories of my life is one of these experiences with her! It was our first night in Paris (I think) and we were less than satisfied with the fact that we had to be inside our rooms before the sun went down. I craved that Paris night that was so close to me. I wanted a 9 p.m. expresso more than anything else. So this one night, we go to the top level of our hotel (this became a habit at every other hotel afterward) and found some windows which opened onto a roof. We promised to climb out later after cerfew. It was 11 pm and we made it. We stood in the night breeze, about 5 miles away from the heart of the city and the Eiffel Tower. Every couple minutes the lighthouse-esque beam would shine on us. It was as close as we'd get to the world we craved. We both vowed to come back again and experience it fully. As I begin to focus on what I want to study in college and what I want to contribute to this world, I am reminded of my experience in Paris. It was easily accessible. It sparked a love for history and art and culture and weather. Its a good place <3 p.p.s. shoutout to france for making a good decision to reject racism and xenophobia!! I hope we americans can learn some lessons from this more versed nation!
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