The first thing I realized in Paris was that Seville has really been spoiling me with the weather. Paris was FREEZING. It was in the 20s. I consider it cold in Seville when it's 45. I was even forced to buy a hat in Paris, and most of you probably know I NEVER wear hats. It did, however, make me feel very French.
I must say, it was a very weird experience being in a country that I didn't know the language. I felt useless. My friend and I got off the plane and went to a station to ask about the shuttle to the city, and we literally just stood there with blank stares because we didn't know what language to speak. My first instinct was to speak Spanish, but I realized I wasn't in Spain. Not knowing what people were saying to me made me feel much more comfortable with my Spanish when I got back.
Anyway, back to the touristy things. After the Eiffel tower, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe, which honestly looks exactly like you'd expect. Then we walked down Champs d'Elysses, basically the 5th avenue of Paris. For dinner, we found a cute crepe place, where we had both dinner and dessert crepes (oops), both good, however, I had more crepes (what the French are known for) the next day that were significantly better. We then went to a few bars in the area, but were tired and wanted to get started early the next day, so went back to bed pretty early.
Saturday we went to the Louvre. I'll be honest, I know NOTHING about art. It was very cool to see the original Mona Lisa, (it's much smaller than I expected) but that was really the only artwork I recognized. I felt dumb taking pictures of all this other art work when I had no idea what it was. Note to self: be more culturally educated.
After the Louvre, we went to Notre Dame, which was very cool. It was HUGE. We then went to the Luxembourg gardens, which were pretty and if it was warm I could have stayed there all day, but it was freezing. On the walk back, we stopped in a place called La Croissanterie, where Anna and I split a chocolate short bread and an eclair. These 2 pastries were actually the two most delicious things I've ever eaten, and I am not exaggerating. Better than Mike's Pastry. Better than my Bat Mitzvah cake. Better than ice cream. Just pure heaven. I'm not kidding when I say I was close to tears when I finished eating them. I also almost turned around and went back for more (I was over a mile away).
For dinner, we wanted to go to a place that the hotel desk man recommended, the Chartier. The night before we tried, but the man working said they weren't seating anymore people. Last night, we stood in a line out the door, and the woman told us there was a chance we could get in, but we may not. We waited and waited, and luckily, were the last people they let in!! This restaurant must be famous or something due to the huge crowd. We soon learned why it was so crowded- the food was delicious. I had a steak and fries. And an ice cream sundae for dessert (of course). A great meal. After dinner, Anna and I went to an area of Paris with a bunch of bars and just bar hopped for a bit. It was a very cool area, a great way to end the trip before I left early the next morning.
Returning to Seville felt much better than I expected it to. People always said when you're abroad the traveling is great but it's an excellent feeling returning home. They were right. Maybe it was the warmer weather, maybe it was the ability to speak Spanish, or maybe it really is true that after a month of being here, Seville has started to really feel like home. Landing on the Seville runway gave me the same relieved feeling that landing on the Boston runway when I come home from DC gives me. While I will continue traveling around Europe, I am also going to definitely continue taking advantage of the amazing city I have chosen to live in for the next few months.
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