Paris: Première Partie

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There's not that many moments in my life that I can categorize as "dream-come-true" moments. It's not that I haven't experienced great things in my life; it's just that I've only ever wished for a few great things to happen to me... and not all of them ever came to pass... except this one!

On February 8 of 2016, I got to experience the lengthiest walking tour I've ever been on in my entire life in the city that I have always wanted to see since I was a teenager: PARIS!

Lengthy because I've spent most of my stay in Paris on foot: a total of seven and a half hours of walking around to see the major landmarks that I wanted to see. (Now I'm regretting why I didn't decide to spend a night or two there when I had the time and the money to do so... 2020?)

Anyway, this short tour of the City of Lights and Love was one of the most anticipated stops in my European trip, which lasted three months. Right from the moment I boarded the FlixBus in the Netherlands, I felt giddy all over with excitement. The ride from Maastricht to Paris was one of the best bus rides ever: for the views along the way and for the destination.

Add to this excitement was the challenge of being alone in a foreign country: no tour guides; no travel companions; no Internet connection. There was a real risk of getting lost here... and not knowing what to do! I remember getting off the bus and walking away from Porte Maillot (where the terminal was located), treading ever so lightly on Parisian ground as if it would somehow prevent me from straying off my already-plotted-out itinerary.

I remember one of the first images of Parisian street life that greeted me on that Monday afternoon was a group of blue-collar workers fixing a portion of the sidewalk on Avenue de Malakoff. Oh... I could still see in my mind the barrier tape stretched over their work area to keep people off the pavement. That was such a highlight of this trip for me. My kind of touristy thing to do in a foreign country: ogle at ordinary, everyday scenes.


... to be continued ...

Comments

  1. JucyJune 25, 2018 at 7:28 PM

    “To be continued” may be the most annoying phrase in the English language. 😂😂

    ReplyDelete

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