Paris, France - Encapsulated by the City of Love
As we arrived in Paris, I couldn't help but think that none of this was real. All the streets felt like a movie set, and it hadn't truly set in that we were in Paris. Even as we walked down the streets of Montmartre with terraces on every apartment and churches towering above in every direction, it still felt like I could wake up at any moment and be back in my dorm room in Bloomington, Indiana.
As we boarded the bus and headed toward our hotel, I felt like I was in a trance. Suddenly my mind was against my body as I fought to keep my eyes open and to defeat the jet lag.
"On the right, you'll see the Eiffel Tower appear," our tour guide Valerie Walker said in a thick French accent.
This was the moment I had been waiting for. My eyes shot open, and I watched as our bus took the roundabout and the Eiffel Tower slowly came into view.
The tower stands 330 meters, or 1,083 feet, tall. Over 18,000 parts work together to create this magnificent building, which brings over 7,000,000 visitors a year. Millions from all over the world travel to see this contraption in all its glory.
Yet, as the soon-to-be ochre structure peaked out from behind the closest buildings, no special feeling stirred inside me.
I turned to some of the others on the trip and joked that Paris almost seemed more fake to me now than before.
The dull gray sky did nothing to illuminate the dark tower, and the gates surrounding the structure for security purposes took away much of the magic.
I continued my day, a little disappointed that it wasn't as magical as I had dreamed of for so many years. The adrenaline of Saturday and Sunday's adventures made up for the slight disappointment, and I didn't stop beaming the entire time.
So on Sunday night, when we all decided to venture up all 1,665 steps, I was a little nervous.
I had such high expectations of what the Eiffel Tower would be like, and my first interaction hadn't gone as planned. I didn't want to feel disappointed after all of the exciting things we had done.
That wasn't going to stop me, though. We bought our tickets and began our ascent to the summit.
A few of us raced up the slippery steps as the rain plummeted down on us.
The first floor took our breath away, but there was still more to see.
We took the second round of stairs at a much slower rate than the first but made it nonetheless.
After finding out the third and very top floor was closed for the night, we knew we had to take in as much of the second floor as possible.
My heart began to pound as I rounded the corner and approached the railing. The view of a dark and stormy Paris appeared, and I knew I had fallen in love with this city.
The eight of us stood at the edge and stared, engulfed by the lights, the darkness, and the bustling of the streets below. We pointed to buildings we had seen on our walking tour: The Notre Dame, The Arc De Triomphe, and the golden dome of Les Invalides. Nobody could move. We all just stared in amazement.
One by one, we slowly stepped away from the ledge and wandered into the middle of the floor. Reluctantly, we made our descent down to the ground and arrived just in time to check another item off our bucket list; watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle as the clock struck 11:00 pm.
We all stood in anticipation. Nobody dared to blink for fear of missing it.
Suddenly, as the clock struck the top of the hour, the whole structure lit up in millions of tiny blinking yellow lights. The city of Paris was illuminated, and the sparkles reflected off each of our faces.
As we stood at the base of the monument, our heads staring up, everyone stood motionless. Nobody could find the words to say, so we stood in silence. We couldn't look away. We were all under the spell of the city of love.
It was one of those moments where you know that if you move, it's over. Once you look away, that image simply becomes a memory, only to exist in your mind.
It was our last night in Paris before departing to Normandy. How can you just walk away when you know you may never see that breathtaking view again?
As I finally broke out of my trance, I looked over to the others. At that moment, everything became real. I was standing in Paris. I finally got to do the one thing I have always wanted to do: travel.
It wasn't just me and my car anymore. This was a much larger scale. I wasn't traveling through the US alone, sleeping in my car, but rather across the Atlantic Ocean, in a country whose language I barely know, with people I met 2 months ago. And at that moment, I was the most content I've ever been.