Going Back

Going into winter break, I realized that I was rapidly approaching my final Spring Break. Going all the way back to 8th grade, I have spent all but one Spring Break doing something exciting (9th grade being the year of hanging out at home for a week).

• 8th Grade: Class trip to Washington, DC (exciting, even if I was miserable because I had mono and the stomach flu at the same time)
• 9th Grade: N/A
• 10th Grade: NYC with my mom for a week of Broadway shows
• 11th Grade: San Antonio and Santa Fe with my parents, to look at colleges and see the Southwest
• 12th Grade: China for two weeks! Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
• Freshman Year: Dublin with Katie
• Sophomore Year: Spring Training in Arizona with my parents, along with a trip to the Grand Canyon
• Junior Year: Scotland for a week with Clarissa, and Santorini for a week with the girls! Extensively documented on this very blog.

So clearly, my Final Spring Break could not be a bust. But then comes along the affordability issue. Even if I could find some cheap way to get somewhere exciting, I'd still have to pay to stay there for 10 days! If only I knew someone who lived someplace cool....

And lo and behold, I have a friend moving to Paris in a few weeks. I brought the idea up a few times, but was sort of hemming and hawing.... Fortunately, my mom can be pushy and decided it was a perfect plan and I was going. So yesterday, after a hair-frazzling 20 minutes with the Air France "Reservations System" malfunctioning every time I entered my information, I booked my trip to Paris!!!

I'll be there in less than two months, for just over a week. I'm very much hoping to fit in a day trip to Geneva, London, or Amsterdam, or someplace similarly close. Since I have already lived in Paris, I won't need to knock myself out trying to hit all of the tourist spots. I can just enjoy being back in one of my favorite cities.

That said, I do have a little To-Do List worked out:

• Stop by and say "hi" to Shelley
• Get bread from my favorite patisserie
• Have a meal of fresh bread, goat cheese, and Limonata at the Eiffel Tower
• Walk the Seine at twilight
• Try and find The Magic Steps from Midnight in Paris
• Go to one of the flea markets, or at least a thrift shop, and get something
• Watch the Tower sparkle from Trocadero

At first, the reason I was a little hesitant to book a trip is that... well, I was just living there less than a year ago. It's not someplace new and exciting. But the more I plan my trip, the more excited I am getting. It will be so nice to show up and have it all be familiar! I will get to use my French again, walk my favorite streets again, and finally show off my little neighborhood to someone from home. And I will eat so much cheese. So cheap, and so yummy. 

Plus, the friend I am staying with are very into adventuring. So I should be able to experience Paris in a whole new way!

I'll keep you all posted ;)