I have so many stories about Paris by night. During the exchange programme, we were sorely disappointed because Paris by night turned out to be just Paris by evening because we went in May and were told we couldn’t stay too late. As a result, as soon as the lights of Paris started coming on, […]
Paris
Travelling to France during the Strikes
Only yesterday I read about Paris transport being set to return to normal after a 45-day strike. 45 days. It’s a long time. For part of this time, we were in France too, and there, we learned about why these strikes are important to so many people. Despite my faltering, rusty French, we spoke about […]
Straight to the Louvre
The conversation I overheard while I was at CDG airport convinced me that I simply had to make the most of my youth and of being young in France. I landed in Paris on the 4th of June, 2006, a Sunday. It was the first Sunday of the month, and I was in Paris. That meant […]
Flying Alone
“Window or aisle?” “Aisle, please.” I took my boarding pass and boarded the flight. No sister with me this time. No one to hold my hand. No one to exchange sparkling glances of excitement with. Sure, I was going to meet her, but on this journey in 2006, I was alone. The journey to Milan […]
Backpacking through Europe
That year, we went from Salzburg to Munich. We spent a few hours at Munich and then went to Berlin. And from Berlin, northward to Amsterdam. Our night in Amsterdam was another night out, but after so many journeys and so many crazy backpacking experiences, we’d figured out a few things. We had Eurail passes that […]
The Eiffel Tower
I was not at all impressed when I first saw the Eiffel Tower. My problem with the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Mona Lisa is that they look just like the pictures. When you go and look at them, there’s nothing that you have not already seen or sensed, unlike, for example, when […]