The City of Light Did This to Me

There are moments that change you - for the better or for the worse. You don’t know it in the moment, but you look back and realize there was a nudge that pushed you somewhere better or bigger or slower or…different. Freeze frames. The images so locked in your mind you can almost smell the world around you, feel the ground you were standing on or taste the Angelina’s cold chocolate drink (in my case) you’re sipping.

The boys are at baseball and all I can do is sit here and day dream & search for the next destination we’ll adventure, devour and immerse ourselves in.

And Paris did this to me.

Paris, The City of Light, was the first foreign city I truly adventured on my own. 100% alone. I was fortunate enough to have P&G get me to Geneva, Switzerland for work, but I took myself (by train) to Paris. I decided where to stay, what to do, how long to spend, where to walk, when to Metro or Uber. And this experience changed the way I think about travel, it changed the way I think about how we spend time & money and made me think differently about the memories I want us to make in the future.

I remember how daunting it felt to plan 36 hours alone. How would I know where to go or what to do? Would I feel safe? Would I be able to figure out the train? How about the metro? What if I got lost? Aka I’m severely challenged in way-finding. Once I arrived in Paris I started walking and I never stopped…and I’m pretty sure that’s because I was terrified of trying to figure out the transportation system. I can’t read a map in English…let alone French but I did manage to arrive by train from Switzerland and then by metro from the train station to my Air BnB so I guess it worked out…but so much stress leading up to it! Do the French really hate Americans? Will people talk about me in French when I’m standing right next to them? What if I want a chocolate pastry and they give me a pistachio one? Is there bad wine in France? How will I get my suitcase to the 4th floor air bnb with no elevator? What if my train back to Switzerland gets delayed, will I catch my flight home? So. Many. Things. To go wrong!

And right. So many things went right…or maybe a lot went wrong too, and Paris is just too magical to even notice. p.s. I’m sure many people talked about me as I was standing right next to them! Either way, I was way too preoccupied with the timeless beauty throughout every inch of the city to notice.

But - I’ve come a long way since then. I’ve realized that exploring new places, new adventures, new cultures, new foods & visiting local markets are my favorite ways to recharge. They can be in my own city/state or on the other side of the world - but Paris, you are the city that taught me that I feel alive when I #staycurious and #trynewthings, that my heart explodes when I see Jimmy or Santi’s face light up because they just zip lined through a jungle or rode a camel in the desert or ate the “best gelato ever” (for real this time) or got to watch the Longhorns play live for the first time ever or for the first time in 10 years. Paris, you are the city to make me realize how much I appreciate and need to be alone with the (billions of crazy) thoughts (per minute) in my (crazy) head (see paragraph above of all of the things that could go wrong if you don’t believe me). You are the place that I figured out that I could Figure. Things. Out. You gave me confidence to explore more, be less scared and eat lots and lots of pastries (chocolate ones with a few pistachios thrown in for good measure). That takes a lot of courage…and burpees to make up for all those pastries.

You gave me charcuterie & wine for lunch and dinner, you gave me warm crepes on Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower in glittering lights gazing from a bench below, Sainte Chapell’s awe-inspiring stained glass, Centre Pompidou’s 3D street art & Angelina’s most decadent-cold chocolate.

Paris - you gave me all of this & so much more because what I learned here has carried over into many more states, cities, countries, experiences, cultures and most importantly - memories made. Is there an experience that transformed how you travel or view the world? I’d love to hear about it and maybe it will make it to my wish list too!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from this trip…and if you’re wondering, food is under represented in the number of photos both in terms of quality & quantity consumed on this trip!

And if you’re looking for more on What To Do With 36 Hours in Paris check out my next post!