Paris is an expensive city so I only had the opportunity to stay for three days. Three days was enough, it had to be, and I won’t forget my experience there any time soon. I found out quickly that life as solo traveller opens up many opportunities when you are forced to interact with strangers.
Life in Paris started very early on a cold morning at the end of Spring. I had taken an overnight bus from London to Paris and I was abruptly disturbed from my vague attempt at sleeping in an upright position (one day I’ll learn to stop doing overnight trips in seats) to confirm that I had made it. Although, earlier when we were crossing the English Channel I did almost miss the bus which could of made things interesting. We all had to exit the bus and sit in the passenger lounge as we sailed to Calais. This was at two in the morning. I was tired so I thought a good idea was to follow the majority of the bus passengers and have a little power nap in the hope that I would be woken up in time to leave. This was not the case. My eyes flickered open very purposely as they do when you remember you shouldn’t be sleeping and with a quick glance around I realized everyone who I had surrounded myself with in the hope that they would “help a brother out”, were gone. It was just me and my mind saying “fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck….” I raced down to the bus. I was the last to board. I made sure I had some quality eye contact with those that I put my trust into. But I made it. All good.
After I had settled into the hostel, spending most of the day in transit and waiting for my room, I didn’t feel much like venturing very far. The area local to the hostel was Montmartre. The main touristy attraction here is the cathedral Sacré-Cœur. This area is “touristy” in more ways than one. First we have the grand, beautiful Sacré-Cœur that erupts from the hill side to look down across all of Paris – touristy attractions seem to always have an incredible view involved. Then we have the “locals” and the bracelets. This is the scam that everyone has either experienced or they have heard the stories. It’s the one where as you wander into the touristy spot a strange man pulls you aside and forces a bracelet to your hand, I say forces but in reality the man carrying out this scam is nothing but charming, throwing in a few “Hakuna Matatas” to put you at ease while playing with your hand in uncomfortably close proximity. It’s only once he has finished that his total demeanour changes from friendly and charming to aggressive as he demands money for the bracelet you didn’t even know you wanted. My first day in Paris I felt like a true tourist, I was scammed and I saw a nice view.
However, I couldn’t help but feel at home in Paris. The general attitude is to keep up appearances – anyone wearing glasses here wears the best fucking glasses you’ve ever seen. I felt a little inadequate walking this city, my glasses were cheap therefore the beautiful women walking around were well and truly out of my league – the women here are on another level. So are the men. I had to be happy to visit and observe what I want but others get.
Yes, another city I could live in. The look, feel and beauty of this place makes it very attractive. Also, another great coffee experience – Paris ticked a lot of boxes.
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