Paris, France
Where I fell in love with my life
Ever since studying French in high school I had a very romantic idea of Paris in my head. Paris is known for their art, fashion, food, wine, landmarks, and all around culture. And since it was a major city I always imagined I would try to stay there for at least 5 days to see it all. Then when I started housesitting I had my fingers crossed and hoped to find a sit in Paris. That was the dream.
Fast forward to sitting at my friend’s home outside of Munich. I was doing my regular sweep on trustedhousesitters looking for any housesit for the upcoming week in 5 different countries. I applied to several but I lucked out and saw a new listing for a sit in Paris coming up in a few days. I jumped and quickly applied. Over the next couple of days I communicated with the hosts and they confirmed my sit. They wanted me to arrive early that Thursday so I booked an overnight bus from Munich to Paris with me arriving at 6AM. Everything was happening as I had hoped but for some reason I didn’t let myself celebrate cause I was inwardly thinking it was all too good to be true and I would wait until I was actually in Paris at the host’s apartment before I would accept that it was actually happening.
So after a 12 hour bus ride I arrived in Paris in the early morning and took the subway to the North of Paris and walked the 10 minutes to their apartment. They had mentioned in their listing that they were on the top floor and the elevator wasn’t working. I figured, if that’s the price I have to pay, walking up and down 6 flights of stairs 4x a day, in order to stay in Paris for 10 days for free, then I’ll take it. I was warmly welcomed into their home and met the roommates I would be watching for my stay: Bianca, the chill pittbull; Gaston, the sneaky Sphynx; Marcello, the alpha cat. I instantly fell in love with the apartment, it was the epitome of cool and I had to keep pinching myself, metaphorically, that I was here in Paris in a super French and hip apartment. I could even see the top of the Eiffel Tower from the balcony. My hosts were super cool and sweet. One of my hosts took me out to show me the area while walking Bianca. She showed me their garden plot nearby and I was blown away at the natural area for solitude in the city.
Paris Playlist
“Each Time You Fall In Love” - Cigarettes After Sex
Since I would be in Paris for 10 days I figured I would space out all my sightseeing. There was no need to rush to see 2 museums and 2 churches a day. I could pick days and times that should be less crowded and go at my leisure. So for the first couple of days I just chilled at their place, relaxing after being on the go. I worked on blogs and watched the latest season of Stranger Things. I would play a record on the player, sip French wine, lounge on the loveseat with Gaston curled up in my lap, and gaze out on the setting sun out the open balcony doors. I was initianlly a little repulsed by the look of Gaston. I had never seen a Sphynx cat in real life and being hairless he looked like a big rat. But I quickly fell in love with him and his loving personality. His hairless body feels like velvet and I ended up enjoying petting him and wrinkling up his skin.
montmatre, Sacré-Cœur, & Moulin Rouge
My first venture out was to nearby Montmatre. Since it was the closest area to the apartment I decided to walk there. I had visions of Sacré-Cœur in my head from scenes in Amélie so I knew to expect stairs leading up to the white domed church. I came from the backside and walked to the front where the throngs of tourists were, the ideas in my head to finally be replaced with actual first hand views. It was stunning and spectalur just as I had imagined. The views from martyr’s hill did not disappoint either. Sacré-Cœur is the second highest spot in Paris after the Eiffel tower. After a brief look out onto the city I joined the line to enter the basilica. Once inside I walked around the service taking place. I downloaded an app to listen to a free guide of the church and sat in a pew while I listened to the history, the most notable being that the permanent perpetual adoration has not been interrupted for a single day, not even when bombings during war shook the windows. Back outside I chose not to pay to tour the domes but rather walked down the stairs to sit on a bench at the base and admiringly look up at the church.
After getting my fill of Sacré-Cœur I aimlessly walked around the area going in and out of souvenir shops and those that caught my eye. I headed nearby to the Moulin Rouge. Down a street full of sex shops and cabarets I came upon the red windmill. It is not what I expected. I guess I had imagined a stand alone large building but it was a smaller space with other buildings on either side and right on a busy street. I took pictures and read the information on the history of the place and continued on my way. I might have liked to go to a show to see what it was all about but it was above my price range. I headed back to the apartment with hopes of finding a scooter to get me there faster but wasn’t able to get the app to work on my phone. I felt really fortunate to be able to leave the tourist areas behind and walk back to my own space, a whole apartment in Paris.
Centre Pompidou
Since the museum is one of the few to stay open late I went to visit later to avoid crowds and when I arrived around 5:30 I didn’t have to wait in line. I toured around the 5th floor-Modern Art and saw works by Matisse, Picasso, Duchamp, and more. Then I went down to the 4th floor-Contemporary Art. That floor was a bit more abstract as art has pushed boundaries and progressed through time. That floor showed art works in minimalism, videos of performance art, more sculptural pieces, and works you could interact a bit more with like walking under a canopy of headphones or down a narrow hallway of yellow light. There were rooms covered floor to ceiling in leaves and one with wool. That floor reminded me of when I visited Meow Wolf in Santa Fe earlier this year. I enjoyed being exposed to some of the highest quality art pieces in the world and just walking around expanding my mind. When I think of Paris I think of art.
Arc du Triomphe & Tour Eiffel
A few days later I finally made my way to see two of the most iconic symbols of Paris. I went first to the Arch. Exiting the subway I rode the escalator to street level and was in the shadow of the arch with the busy Champs-Élysées right beside it. I then had to walk under the 12 street roundabout and come back up to the arch in the middle of the roundabout. I paid to go to the top as I heard there are great views from there. I went later in the day and only had to wait 10 minutes or so in line and then climbed 284 stairs to the top. I read a little about the history of the construction and what the different relief sculptures represent. It was built in the early 1800s as a triumphant memorial for soldiers. Once at the open top I got great pictures during the golden hour of the surrounding area: Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, and I could even see Sacré-Cœur. I decided not to wait till sunset as I would have to wait an hour or more so I left and headed to catch the sunset at the tower.
I came up to the tower from the Trocadéro metro stop. I rounded the corner and bam there it was. Folks were standing around and sitting on every available step space so I went down below to the fountains where I waited for the tower lights to come on just before 10. Then at every hour for 5 minutes it sparkles. After it finished sparkling I continued walking around to make sure to see the tower from every vantage point. But what is walking in Paris without a crepe in your hand so I stopped at a crepe stand and got a chocolate & banana crepe (btw-my French host said that crepes are from the Brittany region of France and she doesn’t eat them in Paris). As I stood eating my crepe by the Seine River I decided not to pay to walk or take the elevator up the tower-maybe next time. So I walked around towards the other side where the park, Champ de Mars is located. I googled about the sparkling thing and that’s when I found out about the 5 minutes every hour thing so I decided to wait till 11 to see it sparkle again. I spread out my little towel and sat down on the grass among other onlookers. After one last sparkle I said adieu and walked away.
Paris Catacombs & Notre Dame
I waited in line for 2 and a half hours to go underground and see some skulls. But I’m still glad I did. I’m not sure when I first heard about the catacombs but I am drawn to unusual attractions and this was right up my alley. Paris removed 6 million bodies from full cemeteries and placed them in the old mined tunnels below the city. As I walked through the tunnel stacks of femurs and skulls lined the path. Some of the skulls were even placed in designs of hearts or crosses. And even though there were a lot of people in line it wasn’t very crowded down below and at times I would be the only person within sight as I made my way down the spooky tunnels.
After the catacombs I went to check out the famous Notre Dame cathedral located along the Seine River. I walked the perimeter of the building and saw all the construction work after the recent fire. To be honest I didn’t care too much for it and not being able to see the inside I didn’t feel any sort of attachment to the place. Sacré-Cœur is much more stunning and remarkable.
The Louvre
I mistakenly waited to the last minute to go to the Louvre. The night before I wanted to go I looked for tickets only to see that there wasn’t any left for the next day. Luckily I had one more day in town so I booked the earliest ticket they had on Friday at 3pm. I also saw that they stay open later on Fridays so I figured that would give me enough time to see everything. I got off at the Concorde metro stop and started looking for a place to eat. To this point in my stay I had not eaten out due to trying to save money and instead cooked at the apartment. But I decided to splurge on the last day and I wanted to try a classic French dish so when I was searching restaurants in the area and came across Le Soufflé I decided to go for it. I ordered the spinach and salmon soufflé and a café au lait. The eggy dish was good but if I had to do it all over I probably would have gone with one with cheese because the spinach and salmon were kinda dry tasting. And I also would try a dessert one. I had limited cash left and didn’t want to use a card so I passed on dessert and instead drooled over my neighbor’s chocolatey soufflés.
Then I walked through Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden) headed toward the big glass pyramid indicating the entrance to the largest art museum in the world-The Louvre.Once inside the pyramid I took an escalator down and received a map of the museum. I bought an audio guide once there but when I went to pick up the set I couldn’t get one because I didn’t bring an id or credit card with me to leave with them. Not happy about that I then went on the search of La Joconde. The famous da Vinci painting was recently moved into a new location as they are working on the gallery in which it is usually held. A museum staff guy advised against waiting in the 2 hour line outside the Richelieu wing and suggested going in through another wing and making my way there so that’s what I did. And let me just say for being the world’s largest art museum they still fail at making it easy to find your way around. I probably walked miles among the three wings trying to find art works just going off the room number. It’s maze-like in there.
Eventually I came upon a line and joined it figuring it was the line for the Mona Lisa. Folks around me asked the museum staff how long the wait would be and was told 2 hours, but luckily it didn’t take quite that long. More like an hour. However, I had the most obnoxious American young girl group behind me chatting loudly and nonstop that I almost couldn’t take it and put my headphones in to blast music to drown them out. At this point I had been waiting in lines all over Paris for days and had enough. Eventually we entered the room where Mona Lisa sat smizing in her glass case roped off and away from the crowds. Museum staff herded us through making sure we didn’t stay too long and disrupt the flow. One of the most famous and recognizable paintings in the world and once in her presence you see the simplicity of it all. It’s not a grand size, quite small. I left the room after one last turn to see her. Then I entered the maze again and searched out some other da Vinci works like Virgin of the Rocks and Saint John the Baptist. I was also on the search for the Venus de Milo statue, The Winged Victory of Samothrace statue, Michaelangelo’s The Rebellious Slave statue, and Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix, just to name a few of the masterpieces. I found myself near the Mona Lisa again so I figured I’d go see it again. So just two hours later and there was hardly a line at all. Later as I made my way out I felt satisfied with my visit as I went to every wing and almost every level, but you could spend weeks looking at every piece there.
After the Louvre I wandered around nearby and came upon a small American-looking diner where I had some fries and a milkshake since I was running out of cash. I then headed back to the apartment for one last night in Paris before leaving the next day.
My summer in Europe has come to an end… I had been putting off really exploring mainland Europe for years due to the high cost of Europe compared to other countries where my limited budget can last longer. But when I decided to hike the Camino Portugues with my mom I decided then and there that I would try and stay the 90 days that Americans get (as of now) when traveling in Europe (Schengen area). While in Europe my goals were to visit my friend in Germany and to see as much as possible. However, I didn’t want to just hit all the European capitals and zoom through. I wanted to settle in and get a more localized view of a place. I also needed to do all this cheaply so I could stay in Europe for 3 months and not wipe out my savings. I feel as though I succeeded on my mission and it all worked out and fell into place beautifully. I winged most of the trip but still never had any real problems. And most notably, I did it all by myself. I’ve seen a change take place within myself: when I could have easily stressed and worried about not knowing where I would be the next day or the next week, I took it in stride and went with the flow. And the more experiences I have traveling solo the more confidence I gain in myself. So even though I saw some incredible places this summer I am most happy and proud of myself for making it happen.
And it’s funny cause I didn’t even think that what I was doing was backpacking Europe until several weeks into my trip. I had, like most kids, daydreamed about backpacking Europe after high school or college, seeing the world, getting cultured, and what not. It just took me a little longer than some and at 32 years young I finally realized that dream. So here’s my stats: 9 countries in 80 days. 4 countries traveled in by human-power (hiking or biking). I saved an estimated (low ball) $1500 by house/pet sitting for a total of 22 days in 3 different countries.
If anything I hope to inspire you to get out there and travel. I live a life full of time pressure. I want to experience it all right now. I don’t want to put things off and wait. Life is short and you never know how much time you have. So why spend it not happy, not doing what you want? This in short is what I base my life choices upon. I don’t make a lot of money, in fact I live below poverty level. But where I make sacrifices in some places I prioritize others, like my happiness. It’s that simple. But I of course know that I was born into privilege and still obtain that privilege to be able to live this life I have chosen. Any other choices I could have made when I was younger or if I was born into a different life I know I would not have been able to do the things that I do now. But if money is one of your limiting factors know that it can be done, you just have to look outside the box a little, and I’m here to help.
