Paris Bucket-list

Before I left for Paris I researched both the city and the country to find what to do here. For countless hours I read blogs and watched vlogs on youtube showing places to see and things to do in and around Paris. Here is my list:

1. Climb the Eiffel Tower: I mean seriously? How can I not?

2. Spend and afternoon at Shakespeare and Company: a well known English bookstore that has been visited by  famous authors like, Earnest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. (I may or may not have spent more than one afternoon AND I may or may not have an obsession)

3. Visit the Louvre- This museum has one of the best collections of artworks in the world.

4. Go to the top of the Arc de Triumph: The views are spectacular and one of the view places where you get a view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower

5. Visit the Pablo Picasso Museum: He is one of my favorite Cubist artists and he lived in Paris for most of his life.

6. Go to the top of Sacré- Cœur and wander through Montmartre: The arts district of Paris where Picasso, Monet, and Pizarro used to hang out. In the heart of the district, there is a beautiful basilica with views of the city.

7. Visit Notre Dame and climb to the top: A beautiful gothic church in the center of Paris. (I really just wanted to see if Quasimodo was still there)

8. Visit Sainte- Chapelle Church: The stain glass windows are breathtaking, so made sure you go on a sunny day. 

9. Discover a secret restaurant

10. Visit Musee D’Orsay: A museum with one of best collections of impressionism in the world.

11. Stroll through Tuileries Garden

12. Day Trip to Palace of Versailles: The famous Châteaux that Louis XIV built that has amazing gardens and The Hall of Mirrors.

13. Try escargot: It was sorta slimy but I covered it in butter so I mostly tasted that. But when in France right?

14. Day Trip to Mont Saint Michel: A monastery that is sometimes completely surrounded by water when there is high tides. The place is a holy spot with an Abby at the top of the island.

15. Visit the Catacombs: Who wouldn’t want to hundreds of year old bones and creepy heads under the streets of Paris.

16. Day Trip to go Champagne Tasting

17. Read in Jardin du Luxembourg

18. Walk along Champs- Elysees

19. Try macaroons from Ladurée: It’s a must do for anyone coming to this amazing city

20. Climb the Palais Garnier staircase

21. Spend an afternoon in Le Marais

22. Design my own perfume in Maison Guerlain

23. Eat a crêpe: The Nutella ones have been my favorite, although a “jambon et fromage” (ham and cheese) savory crêpes are good too.

24. Drink the hot chocolate at Angelina: I have gone 4 times and had to stand in line BUT it was sooooo worth it. Best hot chocolate I’ve ever had, try the egg croissant- also amazing.

25. Climb the Montparnasse Tower: Beautiful views of Paris at night.

26. Day trip to Disneyland Paris: I wanted an excuse to be a kid for a day.

27. Visit the love lock bridge

There is my list of everything I hope to accomplish in France before I leave on May 15th!

Happy travels, Cynthia

Finding Balance Abroad

In January of this year, I was setting of on my biggest adventure yet- Paris, France. I would be living in the 19th arrondissement in a Parisian flat and getting a taste of what it is like to live abroad for a total of four months. Now that my time here is almost over, the thought of going home is bittersweet. I expected to travel to different countries and learn about the different cultures while I am in Paris, but I did not expect so many other things.

I have been able to travel to more countries in the last 3 months than I have in my entire life. I have now been throughout Europe and checking off places on my bucket list and I am feeling quite satisfied. Drinking hot chocolate from Angelina’s and eating my weight in macaroons from Ladurée were things I expected to do. But the countless days sitting by canal Saint- Martin reading a book or writing in journal, or making the thirty- minute metro ride to Luxembourg Gardens were things I didn’t expect to do. While I am here, I am realizing that I am taking more time to enjoy my life on a daily basis- why do I not do this at home? Is it because my daily life in Philadelphia comes with too many expectations? Is it because I put so much pressure on myself to get perfect grades, to be the perfect daughter, or to constantly trying to better myself? Whatever the reason, I know now that it is ok to just be content without having to reach for the stars or to excel. Sometimes it’s more important for me to take time for myself to do what I want to do.

This semester has been a semester about me. It isn’t about the getting the perfect grades (although my grades are a lot worse than I would like them to be) or about filling out countless applications for the perfect internship. It’s about me, Cynthia Brain. I feel as though saying that makes me selfish or that it is not ok, but it is. This semester I have traveled to the countries I have wanted to go to without having to compromise or ask permission. I have been able to explore all the quarters in Paris from the Latin Quarter to Montmartre and I have been able to do it alone (but of course my roommates have been more than happy to join sometimes). It has been so liberating these last few months to really understand what life has to offer and I have been incredibly happy.

I have learned that it is not a negative thing to have anti-social days where I just want to be myself. Being by myself has helped me to grow and realize what type of stuff I like to do. I found out- the Louvre, not my thing; spending hours in Shakespeare and Company drinking cappuccino- is. Taking time to really get to know myself and to understand what the emotions are that I am feeling at a given time is just as important as seeing a new city or exploring a new quarter in Paris with my friends.

It’s all about balance and I am slowly gaining mine.

Happy travels, Cynthia