The City of Lights

And what an appropriate name. Flying into Paris at night, I was able to see the expansive, glowing puddle of gold splattered over the pitch black landscape around it. While it was nice to see the city after dark, it unfortunately made it difficult to get from the airport to the hostel. I had my navigation via metro all ready, but I hadn't accounted for a delayed flight and an early closure of the city trains. Had I not met a friendly French student outside the airport who accompanied me all the way to the hostel, it probably would have been a repeat of the Barcelona fiasco.

When researching flights to Morocco one night, I found a very cheap plane ticket to Paris (only 15€) and booked it immediately. I had no one to go with, no where to stay, and no return ticket. It was my first time traveling alone, but I figured I always met friends in hostels and would be able to do so again. Plus, doing a solo trip could be an incredibly introspective experience. I figured no matter what, there was plenty to do in Paris to stay entertained whether I was alone or not. 

Le Louvre. The building itself was
 one of the most impressive parts.

The activities during my trip consisted of all the main tourist attractions. I spent the first day at the Louvre, which really requires many days to see the whole thing. I was able to see the most well-known exhibits, and after being there, my opinion of the Mona Lisa is that it is overrated. I know that it was a groundbreaking work from an artistic standpoint, but there were so many other paintings that just blew me away. The building itself and the architecture outside were probably the most astonishing parts. It was still nice to see the most famous painting in the world, and imagine Leonardo da Vinci himself painting the piece I was seeing. 


To really see as much of Paris as I could in my few days there, I took a walking tour of the city (in Spanish, thank you very much) that included all of the biggest sites: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, the Pantheon, Notre Dame, and others. My hostel was located in the Montmarte district, so I was able to explore the area famous for hosting artists such as Dalí, Picasso, and van Gogh, as well as being the setting for movies such as Moulin Rouge, Amélie, and La vie en rose. I also went to the cemetery, famous because Jim Morrison is buried there. Definitely grab a map if you go, and make sure to see the Holocaust memorials; they were haunting sculptures. 

One of the Holocaust memorials in the
Père Lachaise Cemetery

Real French crêpes

I was told eating in Paris was unbelievably expensive, which is definitely true in the restaurants. Traveling alone made it less tempting to go out to eat (who really wants to ask for a table for one?), so I ended up buying food at grocery stores and just cooking in the hostel with others there, which is substantially cheaper. But, local cuisine is a fundamental part of being in a foreign place, so I made sure to indulge myself as well. I probably ate two pastries a day, on top of my morning croissant. I couldn't go to France and not try snail, so I shared a plate of escargot with some friends--and it is delicious. But the best food was probably from the bakery. You have not tasted real bread until you eat a French baguette, and I am baffled as to why all bread doesn't taste this divine.