Im in Paris!

Its really early in the morning in Paris and I cant sleep. My poor room mates must be so sick of me tapping away on my computer as Im sure they are all hung over and worn out. Its been a while since I've posted on this blog, but I think being in Paris and all, its a good time to get writing again. I've had so many adventures here, and its a beautiful busy place. I have to say though, its a lot less French than I expected it to be. I wanted to see more ladies all dressed in black with their tiny dogs, while soft music drifted down the street. The city is actually pretty multicultural, and its often easier to find some good pho over a good french meal.

I arrived in Paris on the Eurostar freezing cold, excited and very lost. A kind lady stopped me on the street and gave me directions to my hostel. The place I am staying is nice, but the area is a little grungy. Nothing is very chic here except a beautiful canal. I was relieved to arrive at my accommodation as it was getting dark and I had a lot of luggage. I was tired from a late dinner in London the night before where a Polish man insisted on taking me out to dinner. We drank some beautiful wine, and ate one of the best meals I've had here so far.

When I walked into my room I was greeted by an Australian guy who was traveling around Europe, and we soon discovered that we grew up in the same area. He offered to go on a walk with me as I didn't know the area, and we explored for about six hours or more walking along the canal, past shops, into bars, eating dinner and talking for hours. This was the start of a beautiful three day romance where we spent every moment together eating pastries and kissing under the Eiffel tower until he took of to a new country. We mades some friends and spent a lot of nights drinking till the early hours of the morning playing card games and laughing.

The day he left I felt a little sad, I got lost a lot and was a little sleep deprived. The city no longer looked romantic, but bleak that day. It was not pleasant. That night I made friends with some more backpackers and had dinner with another Australian guy. We swapped stories and met up with more friends for drinks.

Yesterday was my first real day alone in Paris (although I ended up meeting some people at the bar and having beers with them for an hour or two) and it was the first time I really got to do the city 'my way.' It turns out doing the city my way involves a pretty large hit on the credit card, as I went out shopping and treated myself to a long lunch.

The shops were beautiful, and I found so many things I loved. Even the buildings are ornate. It can be hard to find your way around though as everything sort of looks the same, a sea or beauty and affluence.

Every time I meet someone who asks me about my trip they tell me how brave I am to be traveling alone. At first I thought this was a crazy idea, but slowly I have been understanding the logic. A few times when I got too lost and couldnt speak the language I struggled, and there are moments where I would like to share things with someone, but so far, I am mostly just enjoying the experience.

Today I'm back into the city to explore some more shops and eat pastries. Im really excited just to wear some of my new clothes and practice my broken french.