Oui , oui I went to Paris!
I’ll have to admit, before agreeing to go to Paris I wasn’t really that excited. My attitude more or less was “Eh, it’s in a lot of movies and has the Eiffel Tower, I bet it’s cool.” Yea, I was dumb.
I wouldn’t describe myself as having a lovey-dovey attitude towards places, but to my shock--I fell in love.
I fell in love with Paris. I fell in love with every macaroon and crepe I indulged in. I fell in love with the ambiance of the city, and I, needless to say, fell in love with myself.
Boy, did we cover all of the love (city.) My group and I walked all over the city. (Now I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but the average person is supposed to walk about 10,000 steps per day. According to our pedometer, we walked about 22,000.) We started off with the Notre Dame our first morning. After seeing it, I didn’t think anything else could possibly capture the beauty that the cathedral embodied. While all the churches I have seen abroad have been beautiful, the Notre Dame has been one of a kind. Walking in, I took a step back and it truly amazed me as I tried to understand that people have been praying in this very place since (roughly) 1300.
The day just kept getting better when we stumbled upon the original Shakespeare and Company. Imagine a little kid going into a candy shop-all jolly, excited, and to simply put it; happy. That was me. So many books, so many genres, I seriously was the happiest person in that bookstore. (P.s. Barnes and Noble ain’t got nothing over Shakespeare and Company.) The bookstore was like its own little world, it engulfed you and brought your inner reader and reminded you how much you really do appreciate learning. That bookstore was hands down, one of my favorite places I’ve been to while being abroad. After all, Dr. Seuss did once say “the more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!”
Oh also while in Paris, I got a little taste of home when I went to CHIPOTLE. When that warm tortilla filled with pinto beans, sour cream, fresh shredded cheese, iceberg lettuce and zesty salsa hit my taste buds, it felt that nothing could disturb my peace of mind. And it didn’t.
This blog post would simply not be complete if I didn’t talk about the Eiffel tower. Had I been in any other place, I would’ve complained about the line and the weather at night. But even that in Paris was magical. Something about being in front of one of the most amazing wonders of the world completely made me forget about everything. I’ve been to the top of the Willis Tower and I’ve seen New York City from the top of the Rockefeller Point, but words can’t even come close to describe how I felt as I overlooked the city of Paris once I got to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Saying the view was breath-taking would be an understatement and I will just leave it at that.
I could go on to say how beautiful the city was, describe how cool it was to see the real Mona Lisa at Le Louvre, and how glamorous Coco Chanel’s apartment was, but it simply would not do justice. What I will do is this; tell you readers out there to go to Paris. Not now, not tomorrow, but before you die. Experience the magnificence, experience the vivaciousness, and experience that ditzy love. I was lucky enough to have my “pointy picture of holding the Eiffel Tower,” buy my copy of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame from Shakespeare and Company, and fall in love. I hope that all you readers out there can experience what I did, and more. 
This featured blog entry was written by kbali from the blog Karishma Goes to Europe.
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