Week 15: No, I Did Not Get Enough Pictures Of The Eiffel Tower

If you told me last year (or even this time last week) that I would be going to Paris, I would say you're dreaming. But, that means that this weekend I got the last-minute, spontaneous, and exciting adventure I've been hoping for all semester. And it was the best decision of my entire study abroad experience by far.
We flew out of Istanbul at 5am (meaning we left for the airport around 2:45am and didn't sleep at all) and landed in Paris around 10am. Interestingly enough, it was actually the 70th Anniversary Celebration of V-E Day which was very cool timing on our part. As we were enjoying croissants and coffee at a cafe around the corner from our airbnb, we were able to watch some of the early morning festivities from the Arc de Triomphe  and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That ended up being our first stop after we dropped off our bags. We climbed to the top and enjoyed the magnificent view of the city for the first time.

The rest of the day was a lot of wandering--which was perfect for Paris. I walked down Champs Elysees, cappuccino in hand, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I ended up near the Grand Palais and a bunch of other huge palace buildings turned museums that had art exhibits with three hour queues. I walked around Invalides and the museum of the army before my exhaustion finally caught up with me and I headed down the Seine to catch a sightseeing boat cruise. 

Weirdly enough, I ran into some Tech students in the middle of the street across from the Eiffel Tower! I had no idea they would be in Paris this weekend, and barely knew I would be in Paris until a few days ago. Needless to say, it was very exciting to see some familiar faces on the other side of the world, especially after almost six months away from my favorite campus. 

I ended the day at the Eiffel Tower (with a Nutella crepe--yum) and walked around the surrounding blocks for over an hour searching for a bakery selling baguettes (unfortunately, to no avail). Even as we sat on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower as the sun set, it was hard to comprehend that we were actually in Paris. 

Saturday saw an early morning start (I'm still impressed that I woke up around 7am) and a packed day. Again, a lot of slightly random wandering and exploring with tons of walking around. Because the transition time was not that exciting, here's just a list of everything I saw: the Louvre, Tuileries Garden, Place de la Concorde and the obelisk from Egypt, Place de la Bastille, Carnavalet Museum (a free museum of Paris history...lots of pictures, very little information), Centre Georges Pompidou, Saint Chappelle, Notre Dame, the bread festival happening right outside Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, the Pantheon & St. Genevieve, the Luxembourg Gardens (where I got to just relax for about an hour and read a book I picked up for ONE EURO in the Latin Quarter AND ate my first macaron ever because I had mistakingly been avoiding them my whole life because I thought they were the same thing as the coconut-based macaroons--but they're not so that's been a game-changer), Belleville Park (where there was some sort of music festival going on which was really interesting to walk through), drank coffee at O'Paris Cafe which overlooked Belleville Park and the Eiffel Tower in the distance, Sacre Cour and a few streets in the Montmartre neighborhood, and then it was back to the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle at night!

We started Sunday with a little photoshoot at the Eiffel Tower because ya can't have too many photos of the Eiffel Tower.

And then hit up all the leftovers on our lists--though there wasn't too much. I walked down the Pont de l'Archeveche, the famous love lock bridge, and also through the archeological crypt at Notre Dame which was all about the archeology of Paris. 

I then ended up checking out the Arenes de Lutece, an ancient Roman forum, which was really just a large auditorium of sand. One of the perks of the day was hanging out in Bois du Boulogne, a huge park on the west side of Paris that is supposedly about three times larger than Central Park in New York City. Also had to check out Laduree and Angelina--some very famous (but expensive) cafes/restaurants.  

It's fitting that we ended our time in Paris at what ended up being my favorite spot--Trocadero. It offered the greatest view of the Eiffel Tower, with fountains of water creating rainbows in the sunlight, a crowded plaza complete with everything from skateboarders to street performers, and all kinds of people laying out on the grass and children playing in the water. It was so peaceful and surreal, I still can't believe I actually experienced it.

I've struggled a lot this semester with balancing my expectations and realities and coming to terms with the challenges that life throw your way. I have questioned a great deal--myself, my goals, my future. Even worse, I have doubted myself and my dreams. But this weekend ended up being the best way to combat those negative vibes. I think it was the travel experience that I had been craving all this time--spontaneity, exploration, freedom, and perfect weather to top it all off. Coming back to the reality of the end of the semester has been tough, but if anything I feel more in touch with the reality of life--outside of school--something that can often be difficult for me to see. I have seen of the world what I have read about in textbooks and seen in the news. I have experienced that these things are real, and we exist in more than just our university bubble. It's amazing and intimidating and humbling all at the same time. But it's also empowering and inspiring. It's proof that there is more--more than work, more than obligations, more than the daily grind. There is always life, there is always adventure, you just have to look for it.