It was a spectacularly gorgeous day in Paris, slightly marred by the fact that I had no idea where I would be spending the night. I explored the funky streets of Montmartre, trying really hard to appreciate everything and take it all in, while trying not to be too stressed about my sleeping arrangements.
I eventually made my way to the Gare de Lyon to try to change my train ticket home, without success, before I finally got in touch with my friend Dominique from my program. Fortunately she had an extra bed in the hotel she was staying in with her mom. I was so relieved, after a lonely stressful morning during which I had to carry my bag with me everywhere, I had a place to stay!
That night we stayed in the hotel room since all of us were tired from traveling, and we had a little picnic and watched French tv.
Day 12: Dominique and her mom had to leave early for the next part of their travels, so I slept in, and once I left the hotel I made my way to the Louvre, which has a free baggage check and is free for students in Europe! I also had never been, so I felt like it was a pretty important tourist attraction that I should probably see.
Like in Rome, it was a really cool experience to see the actual paintings of a lot of artists that I learned about in my class last semester. I explored a lot of the Louvre before I realized I was starving, so I left and ate the remnants of our dinner from the night before.
En route to meeting up with a Brandeis friend for coffee near the Eiffel Tower, I stopped for awhile to read in the Tuileries garden, even though it was raining a tiny bit.
All in all, a pretty nice day in Paris, even though I spent the majority of it by myself. It was cool to know that I could navigate around myself and figure out the metro maps, aided by a tiny map I had brought from my Frommer's guide to France.
Day 13: On my final day, I walked around Paris a little bit more, but was really just ready to head home. I had managed to change my ticket to an earlier time, after dealing with another complicated train station debacle, so I got back to Montpellier around 3:00.
It was the most wonderful feeling to step out of the train station in to the 65 degree weather and onto streets that I recognized. It was also amazing to come back to my own apartment and to be able to wear different clothes!
Traveling was amazing, but 13 days of travel was way more than I ever had imagined it would be, and it took a lot out of me. I spent the last weekend of break re-cooperating and relaxing and enjoying Montpellier. Even discovered a few new restaurants when Jálynn's mom, who was visiting, took us out for two delicious dinners!
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