I spent Halloween weekend in Paris.

I’ve been learning French since 2002, and Paris is pretty much the cornerstone of all things French. So I’ve learned about it two or three times. Seen a couple movies that took place there. Seen a few pictures in a book. I don’t travel much. Traveling would require more money or a stronger US dollar in the global currency markets. I’ve never been blessed with either, so I’ve been waiting for this for a while.

I’m a city girl. After spending the summer in Washginton, I had been experiencing a bit of an itch to get back to a real urban environment. Aix-en-Provence is lovely and I fully support my decision to study here, but it is in no way shape or form Paris. I love having tons of people around. I love being able to take a train across the city and pop up somewhere completely different. I always have a strange sense of being “at home” whenever I’m zigzagging through the streets of Chicago or DC, and can only imagine the same for New York. Paris satisfied my need for some city time.

Paris was pretty much every photo and movie I had ever seen coming to life. It looked exactly like I expected it to, but I was just so excited to finally be there that it seemed better. The first place we went when we arrived was a neighborhood called Montmartre. As we turned around a corner and got to the Sacré Coeur and all I could think was, “Oh my god I’m at Amélie”.

I went to the Louvre. I climbed stairs halfway up the Eiffel Tower and then took an elevator up the rest of the way. I sat on a bench inside the Arc de Triomphe wishing I remembered why/when they built it and wondered how you get your name written on its walls. I saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night. I enjoyed a picnic dinner of bread, wine, and cheese along the banks of the Seine. I wandered through Notre Dame. I walked down the Champs Elysees. All things Paris.

I also saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show in a small movie theater with a shadow cast, which is actually the only theater in France that is licensed to play it. The amount of continuity that film adds to my life is almost disturbing. I’d say I’m not ashamed to say how many times I’ve seen it in a theater, but it’s too many to count. Many of my life’s adventures revolve around going to see that movie in Milwaukee and it clearly holds a special place in my heart. So the fact that I was seeing it 5,000 miles away from home made me feel pretty good.

Three days in Paris to be a mega tourist proved to be a proper amount of time. I was very happy to return to Aix. Things are simpler here, and that is what I need in life right now. I look forward to visiting Paris again in the spring and hopefully having a different kind of visit. In the meantime, I’ll just ask that you continue to be jealous of my life. I know I would be.

Miss you all. Give yourself a hug, from me.