Hopped a Plane to Paris

I thought I was studying abroad in Italy and staying near Florence for the duration of my program, but when I found myself with no plans this past weekend and a girl I know invited me to go to France with her, I ended up in Paris!

Paris is a place that I always dreamed about visiting, I even had Paris themed wallpaper and a huge Eiffel Tower sticker on my wall all through middle school. But Paris also felt a little out of reach. Even though I knew I was going to be studying abroad in Florence, I still didn't think I would be able to make a visit there because of time and money.

I feel very fortunate to be able to make the trip happen, because turns out I really loved Paris. After booking the flights 3 days before I would leave and taking an hour flight after it being delayed 3 hours while I was waiting in the airport, I finally arrived in Paris.

I have a couple more stressful details about my arrival in Paris, it being 1am when I arrived, being separated from girls I was with, and traveling in an Uber with a girl I just met...but I won't say more than that because if my parents have to hear this again they might have a heart attack.

But everything was worth it as soon as I saw the Eiffel Tower.

I might sound dramatic when I saw this but I 100% mean it: my first experience of seeing the Eiffel Tower at night when it sparkles was the prettiest scene I have ever seen and might ever see.

The Eiffel Tower sparkles every hour on the hour after the sun sets. Our goal was to see the 12am sparkle and the 1am sparkle, because they are different from each other. As we were walking to the first one, we realize that we are running late for the 12am sparkle and we might miss it. We start speed walking and we turn the corner and all of a sudden...it is right in front of me sparkling. We didn't know it was right around the corner so when we turned it shocked me and with the combination of how big it was and how it was already sparkling...it was just perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better first look.

The rest of the trip was amazing as well. Since we were only working with 2 full days, we had to cram in everything we wanted to go to in a very short amount of time. Saturday morning, we went to a famous coffee shop where Hemingway used to sit and write at. If I had to suggest anything, the French Hot Chocolate was to die for.

After that we had tickets booked to visit the Louvre. It was really neat to see some of the most famous paintings and sculptures of all time. I saw the "Mona Lisa", which was heavily guarded, and many pieces that I have learned about in high school art class such as "Le Radeau de la Méduse" and the "Venus" statue.

After the Louvre, we hung out in the gardens nearby to have a snack and sit for a bit. We also walked to a different garden as well which was huge and beautiful. We headed to dinner across town after a bit. After dinner, we decided to head back to the Louvre to catch the sunset and to take photos. And we ended the night by seeing the Eiffel tower sparkling.

Sunday, we headed to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore which is a famous bookstore opened by George Whitman in 1951. We also had breakfast that morning and decided on a place where I got chocolate strawberry crepes. The view from the cafe we ate at was the Notre Dame!

Afterwards, we walked along the river and came across Pont Alexandre III, "the most beautiful bridge in the world". It was decorated in gold and designs. We also walked across the lock bridge, but unfortunately they took all the locks off the bridge recently because of how heavy it was. They left a small few behind, but I wish I saw it before they took them off.

(We ended our journey by making 1 last stop at the Eiffel Tower, this time in the daylight. We walked closer this time near the base. They have parks and areas to sit all along it, so we spent about an hour there. It still felt pretty unreal to be that close to the Eiffel Tower, I still can't believe it.