Paris: the city of lights & love
Ever since I was a young teen my mom always told me that if there was one city I was going to travel to, it had to be Paris. My mom traveled the world, lived in many cities and I knew that I had to take her advice and experience it for myself. The city iself was orderly, sophisticated and very artistic and I can tell why people instantly fall in love with it.
Filled with fashionable people, a wide range of architecture and sohisticated areas, I could see myself living in Paris. It reminded me of my beloved New York City, however, Parisians present themselves differently. They take pride in who they are, where they come from and how they act. Unlike the Romans, they stop to let you cross the street, they have polite manners, they aren’t loud and they expect that you pay for public transportation. Paris was also surprisingly one of the quieter cities I’ve traveled to so far.
We started our first day at the Notre Dame where we went on a 4-hour walking tour of the city. Somehow, we managed to see majority of the city in just a few hours. The tour included sights such as the Love Lock bridge, the Louvre, the Pont Nuef bridge, the Arc di Triomphe, the most expensive shopping street in Paris: Avenue de Champs-Elysees, the Eiffel Tower and more. Food was overpriced in Paris, however I found myself completely content eating a lot ham and cheese baguets from the hostel breakfast. Studying abroad in Europe definintely is far from cheap.
On Saturday my friends and I got up early and got on a train to see Versailles. I didn’t make it inside the palace but I spent some time wandering around the beautiful gardens, enjoying the views and feeling thankful for being in such an amazing country. We then walked the streets of Paris, continuing to admire the countless beauty and design and already thinking about planning my next trip. After walking for some time we then stopped and enjoyed the best and most expensive crepe in France.
On our way home from Versailles, my friends and I decided that out of all the monuments we have seen we wanted to go back and see both the Louvre and Eiffel tour at night. I finally went inside the Lourve and immediately was overwhelmed by all the beauty and artwork displayed in the museum. The Mona Lisa was the first thing we saw and it was definitely a really interesting piece of artwork to admire. I then wandered around the Egypt and Greek exhibits, trying my best not to get lost in the largest museum in the world. We then walked to the Christmas markets that were located in the center of the city and those were definitely a very popular tourist spot and were in a beautiful location. It was a great atmosphere and was filled with flavorful treats, colorful lights and christmas music. In my opinion, Christmas markets are some of the best parts of spending the Christmas season in Europe.
Paris was such a charming city and I can see how the city is called the city of love. My last day sadly consisted of a quick ham and cheese baquet and then a flight home back to the eternal city. We were only in the city for a total of two days but I could have easily stayed there longer. My weekends in Europe go by too fast. Each city I go to I realize that I am meant to travel and see more of this crazy beautiful world.
See you soon, Paris.
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