Les Rêves de la Ville de la Lumière: PARIS

Ever since I made my flight arrangements for my study abroad trip to Paris this summer, I literally have not been able to stop thinking about it! The thought of leaving the country for a month helps me get through the day, and keeps me from sleeping in my classes! Unfortunately, this semester requires my full attention, and all this constant daydreaming could become detrimental to my GPA if I don’t keep myself in check. So I thought I would just write it all out here, and get it all out of my system (yeah, like that will last).

 My mind is constantly wondering what it will feel like when the plane is making its descent onto the runway of Charles de Gaulle airport. Is that when I will catch my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower? I can almost feel the pang that I’ll feel in my chest when I see it for the first time. I can imagine the cab ride to my dorm after leaving the airport; all the beautiful Parisian architecture I’ll see, people walking leisurely with their dogs, cigarettes clutched between their fingers.

 I can’t wait until I can wake up early on a Saturday morning and walk to the nearest open-air market in my floral sundress and pick up what I need for that night’s dinner, and maybe stop by a little patisserie or a wine shop and indulge in little treats, just because I’ll be in Paris.

 One place I will make sure I go to while in Paris: Ladurée. I’ll buy myself a small box of little pastel-colored macarons and a little cup of tea and enjoy it in the original Ladurée café, built in the Baroque style over a hundred years ago.

 A simple thing I’m looking forward to: just walking around the city, taking it all in. I want to walk through the gardens and parks: Luxembourg and Tuileries. I want to walk down the little side streets and find all the secret cafés, tea shops and bookstores. I want to spend a day in Shakespeare & Co. just wandering around, and picking out all my favorites.  I want to have a picnic which is inclusive of all the French staples: du pain, du vin, et du fromage!

 Somehow I feel like every scene I have described in this post needs to have accordion music playing in the background. But, alas, that might be very American of me. There is so much more I think about when my mind wanders to Paris, I could go on for days!