Exactly two weeks after I committed to my list, I was told I was going to Paris! Somehow, with my goals written out in front of me, I was manifesting my dreams already. I've collected photographs and paintings from Paris for years; I actually have quite a beautiful collection, thanks to my family and friends. From my Eiffel Tower lamp to my cheese knives, I have always bee
n surrounded by romanticism of Paris. I always wanted to see these places that seemed so familiar to me, yet I had never experienced for myself, and more importantly, I was going to get to take my very own black and white photograph of Paris!A few years ago, my family and I hosted a student, Laura, from Spain. She and her family have been inviting my sister and I to visit her, and finally this past February, I, alone, made it to Spain. Her family was amazing: they planned a tour of Bilbao and San Sebastián for me. The experience in Spain deserves its own post, so I’ll get to that later. Knowing of my desire to see Paris, Laura’s family collaborated with my father to plan a three day excretion for Laura and I. When I found out I was beaming; I can't stop jumping around and laughing! It's seriously a dream come true! One of the hardest things on my list to achieve was going to be Paris and within two weeks of deciding I was going to go this year no matter what it took, I was packed and shipping off!
I felt like Sabrina. I actually insisted on walking around with my ipod everywhere we went; Paris deserved a soundtrack, consisting of mostly Yves Montand, songs from Amelie, and
of course La Vie en Rose. Laura and I stayed right on the Champs-Élysées, the absolute heart of Paris. The Arc de Triomphe was the first thing we saw every morning when we stepped out of our hotel. Unfortunately, our limited time in Paris only gave us the chance to see the outside of Paris’ hot spots, but we weren’t complaining. One evening, Laura and I spent a couple hours looking for Paris elite lesbian night club, called Boobs Bourg. About four neighboring gay clubs later, there was still no sign of Boobs Bourg and we determined the French McDonalds and a good movie would suffice.For anyone who is thinking of traveling to Paris, I would suggest that you do not eat at George V restaurant on the Champs. The service was obnoxious and the food was beyond poor. I ordered mussels, which were severely undercooked to the point where most of the shells hadn’t even opened. Annoyed, I pointed this out to the waiter who tried to convince me that it was “the French way.” French way, my tush! If I had eaten those I’d have been shitting for days, excuse my French.
The first time I saw the Eiffel Tower, I started screaming which made Laura jump half out of her skin. She was
sure I was being mugged or at least beaten to death. We started each morning at the Eiffel Tower, where I took the majority of my three hundred pictures of Paris. On the morning of our flight back to Spain, it rained. I was still going to say goodbye to the Tower, so we grabbed my umbrella and did a series of “Singin’ In The Rain” shots. A few swings from lamp posts and jump on park bench won us loud applause from a group of young French girls. How positively delightful! They were excited to learn that Laura was from Spain and I, from America. After a short chat and a few last photographs, Laura and I grabbed ourselves a chocolate crepe and heading for the airport.The experience was absolutely amazing! I am sure now, that anything is possible for me this year, ANYTHING :)
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