Paris, France: A Reunion After Five Years!

There are many reasons why one would love to travel to Paris, France... I mean it just seems obvious.. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, crepes, the romance in the air maybe. While all of these things were, of course, appealing to me, the number one thing I was looking forward to was a highly anticipated and longly overdue reunion with one my good friends Ryan who I had not seen in five years. Ryan and I met on Broadreach during the summer of 2007. We lived on a catamaran and sailed around the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean while scuba diving and sailing every day. He quickly became one of my best friends on the boat and after efforts on both of our parts of reuniting had failed, we knew Paris was our next opportunity. So, after five years I found myself sipping on wine and eating risotto stuffed peppers in a beautiful apartment in France with Ryan. It was a moment I thought may never come again but now that we have gotten back into better touch I look forward to running into him in other parts of the world in the future haha.

  

     Me and Ryan Circa 2007                                                     Me and Ryan Circa 2012

Our first night in Paris turned out to be my favorite night of the trip. Like I said, risotto stuffed peppers, some cheap wine and deep conversation and debate about the legalization of prostitution among other things with some of Ryan's friends from Germany and Australia. The next morning Ryan, legitimately the best host in the entire world, had croissants and strawberries waiting for us when we awoke. We then made our way to Versailles for the day which was ENORMOUS.

Versailles!

I am fairly certain and by that I mean 100% positive that Melissa and I completely missed entire wings of the chateau during our visit to Versailles... woops. Regardless, we saw the Hall of Mirrors and many other beautiful rooms in the palace before making our way outside to the gardens. While it was still a little cold outside, we lied down in the grass next to the fountains with the swans and felt the sun fall upon our faces. I kept peeping open my eyes to remind myself that I was actually at Versailles!

Gardens of Versailles!

We then walked through the gardens for what seemed like hours (like I said, if you have never been to Versailles, one cannot simply put into words the great expanse of the property, let alone the palace itself). We walked through Marie Antoinette's house and drank the best fresh orange juice in the world. We then made our way back towards Ryan's apartment where we had some Happy Hour drinks and made it to the Eiffel Tower in time to see the sunset. The Eiffel Tower has quickly become my favorite monument in the world (cliché, I know) and Paris, France my favorite large metropolitan city in the world. The Tower is incredible because although there may be taller buildings in the world that are more architecturally appealing, the tower is a giant among the flat Paris skyline. Paris was smart in implementing building codes regarding the high restrictions of buildings. In my opinion, the Eiffel Tower is so spectacular because of its intense presence.

Our last day in Paris was a guided tour by the lovely Ryan to the most famous spots in Paris. We started at the Eiffel Tower because I wanted to see it by day, then went to the Arc de Triomph, Champs- Élysées, and towards the Louvre. I would not say that Melissa and I are art people in the slightest so we skipped the Louvre and got coffee instead. We then visited Notre Dame and the famous love lock bridge. We walked over the bridge and to get to a falafel restaurant and on our way I could have sworn I was walking through the scenes of a movie or in Disney World. The music, the sunshine, the French people lounging and smoking at cafés. The scene was everything that one may expect Paris to be like. I fell in love with Paris for many reasons, that being one of them. When one thinks of Spain they think of bullfights and paella, Italy... pasta and pizza, Ireland... beer and gingers (sorry Bathleen)... but most of my experience has proven to me that these stereotypes don't actually exist... they are solely parts of the countries culture that are commercialized for identity and tourist motives. Paris, however, was everything that I pictured it to be. The atmosphere that surrounds you is full of romance and beauty. It is an ineffable feeling that one can only experience by traveling to Paris.

Me and Melissa at Notre Dame

Luckily, I had the opportunity to re-visit Paris two weeks after this experience and see Ryan one last time before another long stint of separation... This time hopefully not five years!