Years of dreaming of this amazing place and as it turns out…Paris wasn’t my thing!
I think, in fairness, I thought it was something else and the something else I was looking for…I actually found in Angers. A beautiful place just south of France where the food was amazing, the history was alive and the people were more than pleasant despite the fact I couldn’t speak a word of their language.
We were welcomed…and I’ve left my daughter there to study for a year, in safe hands.
It was simply enchanting and every step I took I saw something else that struck my fancy. I was perfectly comfortable…and rather disappointed to have to leave.
Then came Paris.
PARIS!
I was going to the place of dreams and romance and well…turns out I didn’t love the food, it was too crowded, I found people were a bit rude and the streets were quite dirty. It was busy…big…too big for me to take it all in! I was too busy avoiding being run over by fast moving, dented and banged up cars to admire the city itself.
But The Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, The Eiffel Tower…each took my breath away and I can honestly say I was overwhelmed with emotion at each and every place.
Notre Dame grabbed at my heart…the realization that I was in this amazing cathedral with exquisite things all around me…remembering those I’ve loved and lost and saying a prayer for the days ahead…it was AWESOME…INSPIRING…there aren’t enough words.
The Louvre…the art…the amazing sculptures of things I’ve only read about in books…this one room filled with gilded frames from floor to ceiling…Venus de Milo…UNBELIEVABLE. Thousands of people rushing past the art to get to the Mona Lisa in this overly hot building and I was alone. For a brief moment…looking at these pieces of beauty…I was alone.
Sacre Couer…following the footsteps on the cobble stoned streets of artists I’ve admired…stopping for a glass of wine to take in the architecture…I can’t describe it. I wanted so much more time to explore this place…a day was nowhere near enough but sharing the experience with friends was amazing.
And the Eiffel Tower at night!!! The realization that The Tall Blond was reaching a lifelong dream of coming to France…the Tower itself bursting into thousands of sparkling lights and the gasp that came from her mouth…there’s nothing I can tell you that puts it all in perspective for me.
So…while Paris disappointed me in many ways…in others, I was dumbstruck! Absolutely in awe of the things around me and leaving me wanting more.
I would do it all again.
Maybe next time with a boy…so I could possibly feel a little more of the romance than I felt…and have someone hold my hand while we crossed the street so I could maybe, just maybe, try to take in all that’s around me without the fear of being knocked off my feet!
Because in reality…I truly was…knocked off my feet.