Getting Lost in Paris

Slice of Life Entry #24

“Is that the Eiffel Tower?” Asked my friend.

“I think so…” I replied. From the far distance we could see the top of the Eiffel Tower shining it’s beacon of light to the city.

We had finally made it to Paris after a long and tiring 12 hour direct flight from Seoul. We had been up for way too many hours as it was already over midnight in Seoul, but only 6pm in Paris when we arrived. We had made our way by bus from the airport to Mont Parnasse, the area where our hotel was. Now the hard part was trying to figure out how to get from the bus stop to our hotel which should be a “short” walk according to our hotel.

As we wandered through the cobblestone streets with our luggage in one hand and a map in the other we tried to make sense of the roads. We found a few maps on the street, but they ended up misleading us. We were walking for a while, hungry and tired. We were definitely lost in Paris.

I saw a Parisian couple crossing the street and started walking towards them.

“Excusez-moi. Excusez-moi!” I shouted towards them. The tall and good looking couple finally turned around. We showed them the map of where our hotel was and they looked at it and luckily spoke English mixed with some French. They took a good look at our map and told us to walk with them. They walked with us down to the main street to make sure we were going the right way and then gave us further directions.

We finally arrived at our hotel. Whoever said that Parisians were not very friendly were wrong. Tonight, I’m thankful for the help of strangers.

Paris in the Spring

Slice of Life Challenge Entry #13

After many years of dreaming about it, my dream is finally becoming a reality.  In 11 days, I will be on plane flying directly to Paris for spring break! Oui, c’est vrai!  Here are some of the things I’m hoping to do.

• Sip on cafe au lait at les deux magots while writing in my writer’s notebook and hope for some of the same inspiration that Hemingway and Camus received!
• Eat freshly baked baguettes and croissants from the bakery on the corner for breakfast.
• Gaze upon the city of Paris at night from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
• Take a ton of photos of the Eiffel tower in the background.
• Have a picnic in the garden overlooking Versailles
• Admire the waterlilies that Monet painted in Giverny (i hope it’s the right season).
• Eat macarons from laduree and savor every small bite.
• Walk past the L’Arc De Triomphe while humming the song Aux Champs Elysees that my middle school French teacher taught us.
• Try to recover and use some of the French that I learned all through out middle school and high school…
• Walk into Chanel and Louis Vuitton all dressed up and act like I can afford to buy the things inside.
• Admire the Sacre Coeur from the outside and inside.

…and so much more! Any good recommendations? 

Here are my pictures from my “je t’aime paris” pinterest site!