Paris was quite awesome. I missed seeing Sainte-Chapelle, which I quite wanted to see, as well as the Cimetiere Pere Lachaise, Musée de Rodin and Centre Pompidou which I was less bothered about, but managed to do more or less everything else - Eiffel Tower, Musée de Cluny, Musée D'Orsay, Jardin de Luxembourg, Sacré Coeur, Statue of Liberty, The Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées, Notre Dame, as well as restaurants, cafés and bookshops. We got particularly lucky twice - when we went to Notre Dame, there was a service happening with incense and singing which was just mindblowing, and when we went to the Arc de Triomphe, there was a random military parade playing the French national anthem! I took videos of both.... videos and photos will be added when I figure out how.
We ate in French, Italian, Geogian and Tibetan restaurants, which was an experience. I bought a Tibet flag as a souvenir to be hung out of my window at uni next year. We also went to drink in the Café de Flore, which was frequented by Camus and Sartre back in the day! w00t!
This was my first trip to France (or the European landmass for that matter) and I feel a lot better for having gone there. I'm going to have to start planning my year abroad soon and the idea frightened me because I had no idea what France is like. Having been there, I feel a lot more confident - my language was fine (even if people occasionally replied in English) and the culture isn't that different at all - just better food and more efficiency, really. We're all Europeans after all. And I know Paris isn't representative of France in general - it's more cosmopolitan, more left wing, more Anglophone-friendly - but I don't think I have any real reason to be worried by the year abroad any more.
So all in all... a fantastic trip, and boring details may perhaps follow with photos. :)
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