Pitstop in Paris

I had the great fortune to be able to return home for the holidays this year. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to be home for Christmas because of distance, price and scheduling. After talking with my family on the phone, I agreed it’s much better to spend a little and be with family than to save and be in a foreign land.

Between trying to overcome jet lag and the return of my glorious oven, I ate like it was my last week on earth. Yes my stomach protested, but I told it to shut up because I hadn’t had home cooking in 4 months and it will be another 5 months until I eat it again! It was so wonderful being home, having a warm fire, loved ones, and hot chocolate, that I got stuck with a touch of homesickness. The good and bad of going home is that you remember just how homey it is. Leaving after the holidays was so much harder than leaving in September.

Tearfully I boarded the plane to…Paris! I was starting to feel like the only person who hadn’t seen this city of light. Unfortunately, I arrived during the Paris transportation strike. Suddenly the price of the quick trip doubled because I could only take Ubers. My train back to Mannheim was cancelled and I had to buy a last minute flight plus another train ticket from Frankfurt to Mannheim and another night in the hostel. The deep undercurrent of fear being a solo female traveler and transportation stress aside, I had the best possible January weather.

Now to the Good Stuff

Paris really does look exactly like the pictures. It has skinny trees and little undergrowth, decorated balconies on every single apartment window, and fanciful, romantic facades curving along centuries old roads. When I heard how bad the strike really is after checking into my hostel I began furiously googling backup plans. Sometimes the world is wonderfully serendipity. A group of 20-somethings speaking English in the lobby were planning on splitting an Uber down to the Eiffel tower and they had one spot left in the car. Enter my smiling, eager face. We spent the day strolling along the Seine, capturing each site on our phones, and getting soaked in warm rain. As cool and famous all the monuments were in Paris, truthfully I didn’t come for the Eiffel Tower or the Arc. Day 2 was for my historical nerd-self. Day 2 was for VERSAILLES.

If you only know me online, then you don’t know that I am an absolute fanatic for history of the 17th -19th centuries. I love the clothing, the complicated social restraints, the architecture, and everything in between. LouisXIV is by far my favorite ruler of that time period because he pushed an already stressful social system to its limits by building a palace of luxurious social climbing. His palace is as carefully and expensively decorated as a faberge egg. His gardens are straight from paintings. His sprawling green acres ensure no noblemen would every want to leave. He built the prettiest, most expensive version of the world and held his people inside the snow-globe. Walking the same paths as so many influential Parisians had me floating on air. Next trip, I plan to visit during the warmer months so I can witness the colorful musical fountain shows.

My last stop for the weekend was Angelina Cafe. They’re famous for their drinking-chocolate. It is extremely rich and slightly bitter, served with a side of cream. You only need a few sips. I paired it with a perfectly fluffy egg croissant. Paris is known as being dreadfully expensive, but the is water always free! After living in Germany, the land of “nur tafelwasser”, free water was a welcomed surprise.

I’m grateful to have gotten to Paris, but by the end I could not wait to return to my little city of Mannheim. It’s finals season, and I need to bury my head in the sand and pass these courses.

*As the one-year anniversary of my website, I want to say THANK YOU for reading along with my journeys! I have travelled more in one year than my whole life and I’m excited for what is to come. Happy New Year! Frohes Neues Jahr!*