The first thing I see when I turn on my iMac in the morning is the Ponte Alexandre III bridge in Paris. One of my favorite shots I took while abroad.
But I need to stare at something new.
It got me to thinking, if I could go anywhere in the world (during any time of year) where would I go?
Cue the “travel” search on Google images.
I was thoroughly underwhelmed and passion did not capture my heart as I scrolled through the images. What is wrong with me?!
And then I thought of the one place I didn’t really care for when I was there……Paris.
When I was in Paris (in November) it was a rushed 36 hours total from the time my plane took off from London to the time it hit the runway back in England. It was fast, man. I’m a pretty (read: very) efficient traveler so it wasn’t a problem to see all the sites, eat a crepe, grab dinner at a great local restaurant, etc. but it was, at the same time, under and overwhelming. I studied Spanish for 6 years but my French only extends to basic courtesies and questions (for which I wouldn’t be able to understand the answers). So you’re basically a little island of English. American English. Throw on the fact that unlike Liverpool or Chicago, Paris is spread. out. like. whoa. I probably spent a decent chunk of time just on the metro.
Speaking of the Paris metro…what’s up with the door levers on the OUTSIDE of the carriage? As in, you need to reach your hand OUTSIDE the door window to open the door. From the outside. Rick Steves definitely did NOT cover that in his Paris travel guide.
There were many lovely things about Paris too though, so don’t think I’m using this as some random Paris Hating post. It is, in fact, exactly where I want to be right now. I didn’t have enough time to give to Paris. It was in and out. Zero dark thirty. So what I want, in the near future, is to go back to Paris. To walk the streets, stop in cafes, and sit on the grass opposite la Tour Eiffel.
Paris is the city of love and if there’s one place I need to go to fall in love with travel again, it’s there.
