Paris pour moi

Me, by Jardin des Plantes - because I love botanical gardens.

Most people go to Paris to fall in love. I went to be alone. OK, that wasn't the goal itself, but I did travel solo to Paris. I was very curious about how it would be in the city of love. Would I see couples everywhere? Would I feel lonely? Is Paris a place to travel alone to?

Walking in the streets of Paris is truly something special, and I didn't mind exploring alone at all. To be honest I can't even remember ever noticing thousands of (or even a few) couples hopelessly in love, french kissing like they do in the movies - and if I had seen that I would probably just think that it was cute rather than "noooo I'm gonna die alone!".

Moving on. There is so much cool artsy stuff to do in Paris. One of the places I visited was Palais de Tokyo, the largest center for contemporary artistic creation in all of Europe, as well as one-of-a-kind exhibition space, as they write on their page. I got to experience some really fun virtual reality art. But also, the art deco building itself is wonderful to look at. So I took a little stroll around the building, to the backside. And from there I could see the Eiffel Tower. People might say whatever they like about those "hideous" lights, but I quite enjoyed seeing that rave-vibe Tower - it kind of reminded me of that moment when you've had a mediocre New Years Eve - but then the clock turns twelve and you're watching the fireworks and for a short moment you feel both nostalgic and hopeful about the year to come. Hopeful about your life turning into something...more.

Grabbing the best cup of coffee at Boot Café

I also enjoyed Louvre and especially Musée d'Orsay. On my walk in between, I got hungry and coincidentally ended up at a restaurant called Les Antiquaries. I was there right before 12:00 and I was a bit sceptic. Yes, the place was very charming, and I felt like the waiter really appreciated my efforts to speak French. However, there was no one there. And since the location was in between the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay, I thought "maybe this is a tourist trap". But boy, was I wrong. Half an hour later the place filled up, and I'm pretty sure that most of the people were Parisians. The vibe was good, the espresso was perfect, and the Caesar salad I ordered was MAGICAL.

After this I went to Musée d'Orsay where I ended up hanging with this random girl I had asked for some directions in the museum. She was travelling solo as well, and this is the thing with travelling alone - it's so much easier to get new friends! There is a beautiful cafe there where they serve tea and cake and such - and even though this café was filled with tourists (like me, just from different parts of the world), it was so worth it. We always arrogantly say that we don't want to do the touristy stuff, acting like we're not tourists ourselves, but we are. And that's OK. Some things you just have to see, and you'll realise they're touristy for a reason.

I always look up way more when travelling. So here I'm looking up in the café at Musée d'Orsay.

I'm so glad I got to experience Paris alone, and turns out I did fall in love. With the city.

PS. If you find yourself at a bakery wanting to buy a baguette, don't just say baguette, but ask for the baguette traditionnelle. Don't know how this is pronounced, google translated it. 

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