My Parisian Way

Paris has been a pivital point in my travels. I came here with an air of traveler's confidence after surviving Amsterdam and Brugge and later laughed at myself for it.

Navigating through my first and second Paris metro stations was full of discouraging, uplifting, and extremely comical moments. I realized half way through the process of getting to my hostel that before the day of my arrival I wouldn't have considered going to Manhatten and struggling through their metro station alone, but somehow I was certain upon arrival in Paris that I was more than capable to get through their metro...while the language barrier added a few more struggles than i would have faced in Manhatten I still survived and eventually found my hostel. What could have taken me 25 minutes took over 3 hours...but by the end I felt equipped with more than enough material to write a short guide on experiential learning!!

As for my life in Paris, it's absolutely wonderful. I made friends with a roommate my first night. She is from Seattle and was in the process of meeting up with her sister. Our first morning together we went to a cafe for breakfast...I no longer get upset by the small size of my morning coffee, in fact i've learned to embrace it. less is more, right?

Anyway my friend had met a guy from California the previous night, introduced me to him, and I spent my next few days with my newest and dearest friend Todd! Our first day together was packed with a trip (to the top of) the Eiffel Tower, a walk through and around Notre Dam Cathedral (via transportation of the botabùs), and the most amazing pub crawl of my life. I met loads of people from Canada, Australia, the states, Brazil, the UK, and Sweeden. We drank and danced until 3am and than walked home a very VERY long ways. All the while Todd and I looked out for eachother and became best friends after discovering our mutal interest in swing and salsa dancing at the club!

The next day was spent recovering from the previous night, touring some free museums, and catching up on some rest. I have enjoyed my time in Paris much more than I anticipated. It's extremely easy to navigate, I love making quick and meaningful friendships, and the bread is top of the line! But I am very much looking forward to camp, only two more days!!