Day 30 - Paris, France

So here I am, sitting in the shade of the Saint Jacques tower, writing this post. Today is a glorious day. Apparently, it's the hottest day Paris has seen so far this year, and this morning was the morning I chose to wear pants! But no worries, once I had seen the cathedral of Notre-Dame and done a wee bit of shopping, I decided I had had enough and went back to the hostel to take a nap and change.

Notre-Dame was, as I had expected, as beautiful sight. With the sun rising right behind it, it made for great pictures. However, I was a bit disapointed by the surroundings. The square in front of the cathedral was not what I had expected. It is basically a medium sized concrete and brick square where hundreds of peoples waited in to go to the noon masse. I swear the line was at least two blocks long! I wanted to go in, but decided against it when I saw all the people waiting. When I think of what I had read in regards to the square, of how it was the central meeting point of the city in the past and of all the events that had taken place there, I was taken a back by how empty (and yet full of people) it was. Regardless, it was simply a minor disapointment in my grand happiness of being there. I sat in the shade of the cathedral and simply looked at it. I examined every statue of the kings, every window, every gargoyle (and secretly hoped they would move !)...

The rest of the day was spent shopping and getting lost in the city. It IS a beautiful city, and even if you do get lost, you'll find yourself discovering all sorts of things!

 

Day 29 - Mont Saint Michel, France

Here I am, heading back to Paris after spending a few hours at the Mont Saint Michel. What a beautiful place it was. I got t visit the abbey, which was simply amazing. Walking from room to room, I could feel myself slip into the past and I could see how it was in the medieval times. It is a magical thing to experience. At one point, I imagined myself centuries before, walking the corridors of the abbey, down the streets through the little shops and houses. The shops today are quite different than what they were back then of course, with tourisme having taken over, but the present still blends quite well with the past on the Mont.

 

On the bus ride back to Paris, I listened as two women, one from Québec in Canada and the other from Spain, have a conversation. To someone else, it may not be interesting. But for me, a passionate for languages, it was incredible to hear. The spanish woman spoke very little french and the canadian woman spoke very little spanish. Neither talked very much in english. However, despite that, they were able to have a full conversation that lasted well over an hour, simply by using the little of french, spanish and english they knew. I didn't want to be an evesdropper, but I couldn't help myself! It was so interesting to hear and the fact that they helped each other with the words they were looking for amazed me.

 

Day 28 - Paris, France

Well, this is day 28 and I am by myself. Mireille and I said our goodbyes last night as she left to go to the airport to go back home. Needless to say it was a sad moment. Never in my life have I had such a good time and this is majorly because of her. Every day of our trip was spent laughing and in good spirits. I will never be able to thank Mireillle enough for doing this trip of a lifetime with me. I would not have wanted to do it with anybody else.

As I was walking back from the metro station, it hit me hard. I was in Europe, all by myself. I have another 17 days of traveling left. I guess I will be finding out if I actually like myself. I was scared out of my wits when I realized it was actually happening, and yet I felt like this is right. I feel so at home, here in France. Maybe not Paris specificaly, but in this country. This feeling is so strange and indescribable, but deep down, I know I am meant to be here at this moment in time. It's like I was telling Mireille, it feels like she was over to see me and that now her visit is done.

I have to admit that when I got back to the hostel, I did a bit of mourning. I don't understand where the past month has gone. It went by so fast. I'm afraid I didn't take the time to really appreciate everythIng I've seen and where I've been, even if I would often stop in my tracks to simple take a breath and mentally take a picture of the moment. Last night, I did revert to what felt familiar. I downloaded two Celine Dion albums, the ones I have repeatedly listened to, way back when I had first trip away from home (but still stayed inside my own country). Celine has always been my favorite singer, even if I haven't listened to her in quite a long time. She sounds like home.

However, despite being scared and sad about the end of Mireille and I's trip, I am so excited about continuing this adventure by myself. It feels so empowering to know that I have to do things on my own, especially so far away from home. I am confident I will be fine and that I will have a great time.

 

"Va plus loin

Cherche encore

Tant que brûlera ta flamme

Le paradis qui dort

Dans les secrets de ton âme

Cherche encore

Suis ta lumière et tes lois

Si tu veux cherche encore plus fort"

 

Day 26 - Italy, Switzerland, France

We lifted off Rome's ground at 7:25am. The flight itself was uneventful, except for when we flew over the Swiss Alps. Never in my life have I seen something so majestic! It's just miles of pure nature and beautiful mountains topped with snow. It was simply breathtaking. From the sky, we got to see parts of Switzerland. This country is so beautiful. It is now on my next bucket list of countries to visit when I'm back in Europe. I have been thinking for a while now about getting some information about teaching in international schools there, since it's a european country where french is spoken, but I had never really taken the time to actually also consider the beauty of it's nature.

We made a half hour connection in Zurich, and then took off for Paris. To put you into context of how I was feeling, imagine hearing about how good chocolate (or whatever is your favorite thing to eat is) is all your life, and then finally be able to taste it... That's pretty much how I felt about seeing Paris, only times a thousand. In the airplane, I had told myself that I didn't want to see the tower from the air...I wanted to save it for when I was actually near it. Didn't happen. As soon as I saw the cluster of houses and buildings, I realized we were flying over Paris. Like a moth attracted the light, my eyes immediately searched for the tower. At this point, I had had maybe 3 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours, so I was easily emotional. I had shivers running up and down my body as I located the Seine... My eyes then simply followed its path until I saw it... The Eiffel Tower. It was tiny from my point of view, but it was there. My heart sped up and of course, I couldn't contain my tears. This was it. It's THE moment. I was in Paris. Finally...

 

 

Day 23, 24 and 25 - Sorrento and Pompeii, Italy

The past few days have been quite simple. On day 23, we made our way to beautiful Sorrento, about 45 minutes south of Pompeii to go to the beach. The views from our sun beds were amazing. In front of us, the cliffs on top of which was the city of Sorrento, and where the beach laid at it's bottom. Behind us, the beautiful sea...

 

Day 24 was spent in Pompeii, or more specifically, in stores. However, both Mireille and I started feeling not too well in the afternoon. We decided to head inside our room (with AC) and re-hydrate ourselves with some sport drinks. It did help, but not as much as our last Pompeii dinner did (which was as delicious as ever).

Today, for day 25, we said our goodbyes to the lovely family that takes care of the Otello Deluxe Hostel of Pompeii. They are quite special and we were sad to say goodbye, although we made promises of returning. It was with a heavy heart that we made our way to the Rome airport. We fell in love with Pompeii. This beautiful city is filled with so much history (Pompeii ruins and more), great people and delicious food. I really do hope of one day, keeping my promise. We then spent the rest of the day in trains, trying to make our way to Rome in order to catch an early flight the next morning. Sleeping in the airport was, in itself, quite interesting. We were so exhausted from our trip that sleeoing on the floor was welcomed. However, not even cold hard floors can out a damper on our spirit, as you can see from our big smiles.