one city of love travelled alone

While waiting for the overnight train from Venice to Paris, I met a Korean exchange student who was on her way to Slovakia. She was 21, living in Paris, and talked wistfully of the boyfriend she had left in Seoul. She told me that in all her time in Paris, she had tried to avoid taking an accidental glance at the Eiffel Tower. She had yet to visit it up close. I asked why. She simply said it was something she wanted to see with somebody she loved.

One night later, I wandered through the Place Vendome, stumbling accidentally into a side entrance into the Jardin des Tuileries. The sun was setting purple in the sky. The Eiffel tower glimmered in the distance. A golden carousel glowed amidst the dark branches of the bare trees and the blankets of snow. An enormous ferris wheel glittering icy light revolved in the air. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life. In that moment, I understand that girl and her refusal to see the Eiffel Tower alone. After two weeks of travelling by myself, I felt bereft. There seemed little point in seeing something so breathtaking without being able to share it with somebody else. Others are there to remind you that the sight you see and the things you feel are real. Beautiful things are meant to be shared. Without others, what you saw could almost have been just a dream.

♥ The Eiffel Tower from the Jardin des Tuileries ♥ Grande Pyramide, Louvre Museum ♥ Rue de Castiglione ♥

♥ Fontainebleau Chateau and Gardens ♥

♥ Art in the Musee D'Orsay and Musee Rodin ♥ The River Seine ♥