It was like an elixir. At last. At long, long last, I have tasted the fruit. I have experienced the high: the cocaine of travel. The kind of satisfaction that can compare to the best sex of one’s life; you walk away from it with a big smile on your face, weak in the knees, feeling great, and saying to yourself, “Oh yeah! Now that was phenomenal!!!” And now? Now, it can never go back to the way it’s always been before.
But I’m not talking about Paris. Oh, no! I’m talking about my free upgrade to business class on the flight home from Paris! I’m talking about five hours of sleep on an eight-and-a-half-hour flight across the Atlantic. I’m talking about an appetizer and salad before my main meal – a meal I selected from a menu of options (and a really good meal at that!). I’m talking about the dessert that topped it off, also chosen from a nice selection of options. I’m talking about hitting my “privacy please” button so that the flight attendant does not disturb my slumber. I’m talking about my hotel room in the sky, complete with room service.
Yeah, I was a virgin before Tuesday, July 9th, 2024. But I ain’t no more. And I’m afraid that now I can no longer have it any other way. Give me first class or stay home!
As I was sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport waiting for my flight home to start boarding, I hear my name called over the intercom, requesting me to present to my gate for further information. I was thinking to myself, “What the hell?? Why on earth would they be paging me?? I’ve checked in. I’ve checked my bags and all that other riff raff”.
I walk over to the gate and tell the gate agent that someone paged me overhead. “What is your name?” she asked, with a gentle smile. As I’m telling her my name, she glanced down at her desk and picked up a piece of paper lying on it. She then looked at me and said, “Oh yes, we would like to offer you an upgrade to business class. Do you accept?” Well, HELL YES I accept!!
She kindly printed me a new boarding pass and told me I could go ahead and board. I double checked to make sure I heard her right, because even those who had paid for those seats hadn’t started boarding yet. So, onward I went on my happy little way – the first passenger on the plane – and got myself settled in my little sleeping pod.
This kind of stuff doesn’t happen for me. Even after we had taken off, I kept expecting someone to tell me I had to move … that there was a mistake … that I was in someone else’s seat, or that there was a mix-up with the names. But that never happened, and I landed back on US soil feeling like I had just woken for the day after a good nights sleep. It was incredible.
Now, the beginning of the trip.
Seeing Paris … wait, no! Experiencing Paris had been on my bucket list for years. I started really picking up the pace with traveling in the last few years, and each time I went to plan my next adventure, Paris was at the top of the list of places I looked into booking.
I won’t get into all of the reason why it just never worked out before now. Let’s just suffice it to say, it worked out for July 2024 with nowhere near as much wait time from booking to go-day as I typically have.
I had booked Paris as a solo trip, not exactly excited about the thought of powering through the city for three days alone. But I’d wanted to see it bad enough for long enough that I decided it was quite possibly now or never. After some strong encouragement from my son, I agreed that if now meant going by myself, then I am going by myself.
You can only imagine my delight when I shared with my friend Jennifer that I had booked it and was going, even though I wasn’t thrilled about going solo, and she responded with “Do you want me to go with you?” Well, yes ma’am! I’d love that! As a side note, it’s quite possible she now regrets asking me that question 😊.
I was fortunate on day one that I had time to get settled in my hotel room and nap for a few hours before Jennifer arrived. Having the luxury of resting on arrival has rarely been the case for me when I travel, so I was thrilled for the time to get some shut eye.
Our plan was to walk to the Arc de Triomphe from the hotel since it wasn’t too far away, see the Arc, then Uber to Montmarte, where we would spend the rest of the day. Exploring Montmarte was the part of Paris I was most excited about seeing.
Being there was a dream come true, but the crowds of people really took away from the charm that I’m sure that neighborhood would otherwise offer. We walked all over the area and saw many beautiful sights. We did a little bit of shopping, which included my buying a piece of art from a local artist in the area known as Artists Square. We also dined at an outdoor café; quintessential Paris. Of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but it ended up being my favorite dining experience the entire time we were there. And, as I suspected it would be, Montmarte was my favorite section of Paris that we experienced the entire time we were there.
While we did manage to squeeze a full days worth of experience in on our first day there – even though we didn’t get started for the day until around two-thirty in the afternoon – we only had two days in Paris that were legitimately entire days to explore. Our time there was so brief that we had to run at full force to penetrate that city in the amount of time that we had to see it all.
Over those next two days, we visited the grave sites of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde, stumbled upon a fantastic Turkish restaurant, saw Notre Dame, Luxembourg Gardens, had coffee at the oldest café in Paris, Le Procope (even though we thought we were ordering hot chocolate!), cruised down the Seine and back up again, visited the Louvre, Saint Germain, as well as many other beautiful and cool sights.
By the third day, I was definitely dragging – completely worn out – I am sure Jennifer was too. I have to say though, she was a total trooper! She never said “no” to anyplace I wanted to see, even if it meant hours of walking! But we were both really looking forward to the planned activity of our last day; a day trip to Normandy.
While planning the trip, we both assumed the day we went to Normandy would be the most exhausting and long day overall. But I think I can speak for both of us when I say that by the time that day came, we were more than happy to ride on a double-decker motor coach for four hours each way. It was restful, relaxing, conducive to a few naps, and the entire day was the most rewarding part of the whole trip.
After waking from a little nap on the way to Normandy to discover we were in “the country”, I instantly (and I cannot emphasize the word “instantly” enough) felt a sense of “Ah, I’m home!” The same feeling I had every single day when I lived in Germany. A feeling there is no way one could understand or make sense of unless they had also experienced it themselves. If it doesn’t make sense to you, just believe me when I tell you that it is absolutely possible to instantly feel like a place you’ve never been before feels like home the moment you arrive. I am sure a smile came across my face the moment I felt that feeling.
I learn something new about myself on every single trip I go on, without fail. One thing I learned about myself on this trip is that while I prefer city life in the United States, I prefer the opposite in Europe. The opposite in Europe is where I belong. It is where, I believe, God made me to be. Perhaps this explains why I wasn’t a big fan of Dublin in Ireland but was a huge fan of all of the smaller cities I saw when I was there.
I also learned that, moving forward (aside from the two trips I already have booked), I wish to stay in one place long enough to give myself enough time to really experience that one place.
I left for Paris with zero doubt that I would absolutely love it. In fact, I assumed that after I’d had a taste of it, I would want to move there. Much to my surprise, it felt hectic, way too crowded, very noisy, and just not what I expected. It reminded me a lot of New York City, which I love, but New York City isn’t what I expected Paris to be.
I kept reminding myself to be in the moment while I was there – to remember every second that I was IN PARIS!! And I did that, and I loved seeing all of the sights I’d wanted to see with my own eyes for many years. But Paris did not deliver the charm I just knew I’d feel from her. Maybe I just didn’t slow down enough to feel it.
After a lot of reflection since my return home, I keep asking myself what all the hype is about. I realize this is not the common take on one of the most romanticized cities in the world. But it is my take.
While I was there, I kept consciously waiting to feel the magic that I assumed Paris would have. But moment after moment, it eluded me. Around every corner I would think “Maybe this is it. Maybe this is where I am going to be wowed by what is before my eyes”. It never happened.
I kept telling myself, “This is great!” because it was supposed to be great. I was telling myself, “This is a dream come true”, and being there literally was a dream come true. But “there” wasn’t as it was in my dreams.
Like the hummingbird is drawn to the color red, so I was always drawn to Paris. I came to realize that all of those surface thoughts were just my preconceived notions about Paris, and how I was supposed to feel. But the reality is, while experiencing Paris was indeed a dream come true, and an experience I am so grateful to have finally had, I did not love it. I liked Paris. But I did not love Paris.
Over the twelve days since I’ve been back, my thoughts have shifted somewhat. At first I thought “Paris is a one and done trip for me.” But I will say I am still intrigued enough that I’d like to go back at least once more during the off season and give her a second chance to charm me. After all, I was there during peak travel season, and just prior to the 2024 Olympics, so not much about it was “typical”. And perhaps the fast pace leading to exhaustion that was required to see everything I wanted to see in that short amount of time kept me from truly experiencing Paris – from being able to fully immerse myself in all that she has to offer.
Will I actually ever go back? Who knows? But just yesterday I was looking up hotel prices to stay in Montmarte, so don’t be surprised if I do!