I know what you’re thinking. “Kyle Brown, you said this is a guide to traveling abroad in the UK! You said nothing about traveling to Paris! You are a liar, I hate you!” Ok, ok, I’m sorry. But when you are so close to Paris, you have to go. You may not get another chance.

Also don’t call me a liar.

There’s something about saying, “I’ve been to Paris” that makes me feel more important than I actually am. Honestly, it’s strange to think about. I’ve always had this notion that Paris was this magical city. And to an extent it is. The amount of history and incredible landmarks and architecture are unmatched to anywhere else in the world, which I will definitely go into detail about.

But there’s also another side to Paris, which is the case with every other city in the world.

My journey across the Channel began at 6:18 AM. I found a tour company online called, Evan Evans. The deal with Evan Evans was that for 256 pounds, you received two train tickets (from London to Paris, and from Paris to London), your own personal tour guide who took you around the whole city, a ticket to the Louvre and a seat on a cruise that sailed down the Seine River.

I may be as amateur of a traveler as you can get, but that sounded like a pretty good deal to me. Especially having your own tour guide. As someone who doesn’t speak a word of French besides “oui” and “croissant” I was going to need all the help I can get.

As I mentioned before, I was taking a train from London to Paris. For the uninitiated, there’s a body of water that separates the two countries: the English Channel. There is not a giant bridge that the train goes across to get you back in forth (as I had once thought in my youth). Instead, some rocket scientists or whoever got together and built a tunnel that goes under the water, connecting the two countries. Cutely named, the “Chunnel” it is 246 feet under the water and is approximately 31 miles long. I was a bit nervous about it due to claustrophobia reasons, but before I could even notice we were passing through it, we were already on the other side.

2 hours and 16 minutes from our departure from London, the train pulled into the station. When I got off, I literally had no idea where to go. So I used a newfound tactic I had learned while in my travels: follow someone who looks like they know where they’re going. I listened around for people who spoke English and had an American accent, and stuck close behind them. I trailed them down the platform, and thankfully was led towards a tall man holding a sign that read, “Evan Evans Group”.

I confirmed with the tall man that this is where I needed to be. He stuck his hand out and I shook it and he introduced himself in a thick accent as Christophe. I noticed his charisma quickly. He seemed more excited to be there than I did.

There were four other members of the group there with me: Hannah, Julie Anne, Carolyn and Dan. They were all from Ohio and had come to London for the Cleveland Browns game which was taking place the following day. Hannah was my age, 23, and was the game day manager for the Browns. Julie Anne was her mom and Carolyn was their grandmother. Dan, who was somewhere in his mid 50’s, did not know them, but quickly became friends for their shared love for the Browns and their shared hate for the Patriots.

This group of people, especially Grandma Carolyn, were super impressed about my solo adventuring of Europe. All of them were really kind and I quickly found myself almost attached to these people. They were really the only friends I had made all trip and it was nice to be around people I felt like I could trust.

From here, Christophe gave us the run down about our day in Paris. He also gave us some coins to use the restroom. I was told that for some places around Paris, you had to pay to use the bathroom. I counted the coins in the palm of my hand and realized I only had enough for one trip to the john. I mentally prepared myself for not consuming the amount of beer I wanted to as Christophe lead us out of the train station and into the streets of Paris.

My first thought as I looked at the buildings was that scene in Inception where Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page are sitting outside of the cafe. The only difference here was that the buildings weren’t exploding and I wasn’t in a dream. I breathed in the Paris air and literally couldn’t believe I was here. I took some pictures as I followed Christophe to the bus.

The Big Bus as it was named would be our main form of transportation while we were there. Christophe handed us each a pair of headphones that we would plug into a box next to our seats. From here, we could listen to someone describe the history of each area we drove around. Again, the problem of thick accents plagued me as we drove past many places with super French names that I just couldn’t write down. I did catch our guide mentioning Emma Watson, which drove me into a fury of picture taking of a building she once stayed in.

Does taking a picture of a door she once walked through count as meeting her? Who is to say.

Our first stop was the Louvre. I was almost more excited to see this than the Eiffel Tower. I had seen so many pictures of the glass triangle building, mainly in Tinder profile pictures or Instagram shots. Christophe handed us our tickets to the museum and gave us an hour and a half time frame to explore.

Upon entering, it became very apparent that an hour and a half was not nearly enough time. The Louvre is massive. Honestly, it’s a maze. So many art pieces and sculptures and artifacts and pottery from all time periods. I spent some time looking at pots from Mesopotamia. I spent a lot of time gazing at stone tablets from Egypt with hieroglyphics etched on them. I saw statues sculpted by Michelangelo. And of course, the Mona Lisa.

If you ask anyone who has seen the Mona Lisa, they will tell you it’s extremely small. And they would be right. It’s not some massive painting like you would imagine. It’s roped off and has a big glass wall in front of it. Also, you can’t stand and admire it. Literally hundreds of people are in line to see it and the Louvre staff keeps you moving very quickly. I was disappointed I couldn’t get a picture. But I’m sure it wouldn’t do it justice anyways.

The Ohio group and I met back outside and we caught the bus to our next destination: Notre Dame. The first thing that caught my eye when we arrived were the soldiers. Lots of Army guys in full Kevlar carrying assault rifles patrolled the area. It was like this everywhere though, even at the train station. Christophe told us that the police and military here don’t mess around. He said they blow up basically anything that is out of place. Pizza delivery guy parked his scooter in the street? Blow it up. Leave your backpack in a coffee shop? Kaboom. No mercy.

I digress.

Notre Dame was spectacular. It was probably the holiest place I’d ever been to. The pews, the windows, the statues. I felt as if I was in ancient Rome. Being the good Catholic I am, I lit two candles for my grandmother and great grandmother. I bought a cross for my mom and said some prayers.

I mostly prayed for a bathroom that didn’t require coins.

After we left we went to a very French restaurant for lunch. It was my first taste of food in Paris and I was not a fan. Probably because I got cheese on my sandwich. I excused myself and told them I was going to do some shopping while I waited for them to finish.

What I really did was use my coins to go to the restroom and puke. Partially because of the food. Mainly because of the anxiety. Still reeling from a broken heart it was hard to be in a city where my ex had been and sent me so many pictures of. I honestly just wanted to go back to the train station and head back to my hotel. But I couldn’t let her win. I was in Paris for God’s sake. I splashed some water on my face, gave myself the pep talk Yoda gives Luke in The Empire Strikes Back and continued on.

Our next two sites we visited were The Luxor Obelisk and the Arc De Triomphe. The Obelisk was another historical piece I was dying to see. Originally located in Egypt, this 75 feet tall obelisk was shipped over in 1836 and sits in the middle of the Place de la Concorde. I was mainly fascinated by the still visible Hieroglyphics carved down the sides. For being over 3,000 years old, it looked surprisingly new. The Arc De Triomphe was equally impressive. Being one of the most recognized monuments in Paris, the Arc stands 164 feet tall and 28 feet wide. The Arc is mainly famous for the amount of military conquerors that passed under it. Mainly Hitler, who marched his troops through the Arc upon taking Paris in World War II.

The Big Bus then drove us to the most anticipated part of the tour: The Eiffel Tower. As seen in the feature photo, and in just about every other photograph ever taken, the Eiffel Tower can really be seen anywhere in Paris. But once you’re standing under it, the feeling is indescribable. It’s here. Right in front of me. I’m not looking at it through a photograph or in a movie or the fake Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. This is the real thing.

I smiled. Suddenly, everything was worth it.

As we stood in the sea of people, Christophe warned us to put our hands in our pockets. Pickpockets were bad in this area. Really it was bad everywhere in Paris, but here I was told this was the worst place. You got bumped a lot standing under it. The people of Paris weren’t very nice, which even Christophe had mentioned. I really did understand though. Living in Orlando, the theme park capital of basically the world, there are tourists everywhere. It kind of sucks. You don’t get to enjoy these awesome things in your backyard without the company of a million other people.

I hardly took my eyes off the Eiffel Tower. Even as we cruised down the Seine River. I put my phone down and stopped taking pictures of it. The motto of my trip had become, “enjoy the moment because this might not be here in the future.” I wanted to remember this sight for as long as I lived.

At around 7:00, Christophe led me and the Ohio people back to the train station. We said our goodbyes to him and headed through customs.

Although I didn’t mention them much, I became very close with Dan, Carolyn, Hannah and Julie Anne. It was great to have people that were super nice to me. I had kind of gone into a dark place emotionally this trip due to my heart being curb stomped. So to be with a positive group of people and mutually enjoy something did wonders for me. So when it was time to say goodbye to them, I found myself very sad. We exchanged contact information though before getting on our separate train coaches.

For some reason, Evan Evans put me on first class on the way back. Literally no complaints here. For dinner, I was served chicken terrine and pollock (fish) with mashed potatoes, poached pear on a shortbread and rolls.

And free drinks.

I reclined in my seat and stared out the window. My trip had come to a close. The next day, I was leaving London back home to Orlando. My month was up.

Now time for some reflection.

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