Walking the Streets of Old Paris

Well, my first term as a master's student has officially come to a close; with my essays turned in and classes ending on December 9th, I am now a free woman ready to enjoy the Christmas season. Nearly two weeks ago now Nikki, Rachel, and I spent three days in Paris to celebrate term's end. We took the best path of transit to Paris, the Eurostar, from London's St. Pancras station and two and a half hours later we stepped off the train into the heart of the most beautiful city in Europe.

Because it is winter and it gets dark so early, we had very little daylight and so ended up roaming Paris mostly in the dark. If I had to be in any city in the dark though, I would pick Paris every time. I can never decide whether I enjoy Paris more when it is day or night as each is so uniquely beautiful in its own ways. 

Most of these pictures are courtesy of Rachel- she is a great photographer!

We spent our three days walking; we didn't end up going into any sites except for the Notre Dame but instead just enjoyed seeing  Paris from the outside. We ended up on some pretty long death marches though and by Tuesday were thoroughly worn out, but loved every second of it. It is one of those places that no matter how many times I go, I pinch myself each time to make sure what I'm seeing is real; the city is simply that enchanting. Now, it wouldn't be a trip to Paris without some hassling from gypsies or being hit on by a rather forward French guy on the metro, and those occurred in bounty on this trip (and made for some funny jokes later). The last morning that we were in Paris it was pouring rain and we spent an hour in a cafe near our hotel. The waiter asked as soon as we came in where we were from and the second that he heard I was American (never mind those English girls) he launched in with "American? Oh.. so beautiful!" and did not give up with his special attentions until we left. Men, all I can say is how envious I am of you when I am in countries like France, Spain, or Italy; you have no idea how much attention foreign women draw in those countries.

The Christmas lights were everywhere throughout the city and it added to the magical effect of the coming season. One thing that we did that was new for me was that we visited Pere Lachaise cemetery in Eastern Paris. It is a beautiful, gothic cemetery home to 800,000 graves. We spent two hours there and barely saw it all. It reminded me of many Charles Dickens novels that have memorable scenes in graveyards such as Great Expectations, Bleak House, or Oliver Twist. It is a proper cemetery and the three of us agreed that we would give our left leg to be buried there one day. 

Our trip to Paris was short, but incredibly sweet; I had such a great time seeing the city through Nikki and Rachel's eyes. Paris is beginning to feel familiar to me and, after London, it is the city outside of America that I know best. I will be returning to Paris on January 2 for four days with Rachel McLean and am looking forward to sinking my teeth into the city once again. It is a strolling city and life is not as fast paced there as it is in London; I can relax a bit more and just absorb some of that Parisian "je ne sais quoi" that I love. 

our faces all the time :) so excited to be in Paris

Nikki and Rachel, my adorable travel companions

I love this one

This will be my last post before I am off to Dartford to spend Christmas with Rachel's family and I am winding down this past whirlwind of a year, I can't help but to smile at how much my life has changed. In 2011 I took a life altering class about the Holocaust, graduated from college, moved home, had a topsy turvey summer, and then moved to a foreign country where I knew no one and started over from scratch. I'm quite proud of the strides I have made and, looking back, can't imagine my life as it used to be. As they say, the only thing in life that is certain is change, and I learned long ago to embrace rather than to fight it. England and Egham grows more like home to me everyday and I am more excited than I can say to celebrate my very first proper English Christmas with the Pooleys. With that being said, I want to wish each and every one of you who are kind enough to read this blog a very happy Christmas and cheers to a beautiful New Year, wherever you may be.