Last weekend visited Paris, France. it was nerve wracking at first, mainly because I do not speak the language and the French hate us. But it turned out to be a completely amazing trip.

Paris is dirty, scummy, vomited on, rat infested, cloudy, gloomy, freezing, and old.
But it was the most amazingly breathtaking experience of my time in Europe so far. :)


It is hard to put into words. Essentially, everything that I have learned about since I was a little kid came to life. EVERYONE knows what the Mona Lisa is - even if all you know is that it is a painting, you still know it exists. And everyone has seen a photo of the Eiffel tower. And even little kids watch Disney movies that take place is Paris, even if they are not aware of it.
And then there I was, standing in front of the EIFFEL TOWER. I was walking down the same hallway of Notre Dame that Esmeralda sings in in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I stood in front of Moulin Rouge, at which point all the goofy songs by Ewan McGregor were playing in my head. I went to the Lourve and walked down the streets that are featured in movies. And there was the Mona Lisa. A painting that has been discussed in every art class I have ever taken. And it was tiny, and surrounded by tourists, and nothing like it is on paper. But I got to see it. I was there.

That's really the only way to describe it. I was worried that it would just be this huge stupid tourst attraction. That it would be overrated and and built up as many things are. But it was so much more. It was history. It was experiencing something that I never thought I was going to get to experience. I, Erin Howes, was there. It still doesn't feel real.

And the people, by the way, were extremely nice to us...and all speak English. Which has been a common trend of this trip.