I’m three days into my trip now. I spent the past two nights in London and now I’m in Paris. It’s been great so far. I have to write this on my phone so I’ll keep it shorter, but here are a few highlights from the past few days:
▪ I’ve been to London twice before, but this time I visited two attractions I hadn’t seen. The British Museum had pretty amazing collections from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome — plus a special exhibit on Vikings. I never realized how little I knew about Vikings.
▪ The second was St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was one of the more impressive landmarks I’ve seen. The sheer size alone was staggering.
▪ St. Pancras Station in London, where I took a train to Paris, reminded me of an airport. It was so sleekly designed and so busy. Very different from what I expected.
▪ The French countryside was somehow exactly what I expected it to look like. There was an odd absence of sheep, however. That might’ve been the greatest culture shock about leaving the UK. Step up the shepherding, France.
▪ I’ve only been in Paris for a few hours, but did get to walk along the Seine. The waterfront almost feels like the world’s largest museum exhibit. It seems too grand and picturesque for people to live there. It was strikingly pretty.
▪ I had a croissant. It was everything people told me it would be.
▪ Visiting the Eiffel Tower is one of the best tourist experiences I’ve had. I was there at night when it was lit up, and I literally felt my knees go weak when I saw it up close. It was much taller than I expected, so large that it’s almost surreal. The fact that it stands alone, away from any tall buildings just improves the experience. It overwhelmed my high expectations.
Those are the big moments so far. I’ll be sure to write again soon. And I’ve been taking tons of photos that I’ll post when I can. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your week!
