There is art everywhere in Paris; on the Metro, tired looking old men play haunting melodies on their accordions, lovers make out on park benches and there’s a monument to beauty every time you turn a corner. Wandering around Montmartre, which is certainly as confusing an area as London Bridge, wasn’t frightening or overwhelming because I didn’t really have anywhere to be; you can’t get lost when you don’t have a destination. Getting completely turned around and then finding my way out again was one of the experiences I loved and I found that the men and women who ran the local fresh fruit and vegetable stands that are so common in Montmartre were always willing to point me in the right direction – usually while gently correcting my shoddy French. Meals alone taken while listening to the animated prattle of French speakers at nearby tables while I dipped in and out of a book were some of my favorite moments, along with the rain that seemed to pour down every night muffling the sound of the church bells from nearby Sacre Coeur.
For me, the key to falling in love with Paris and consequently with travel, was that on my first visit I was alone. It was just me and the city. I am always surprised when I hear people say they hate Paris but I suspect their experience is so negative because they go with an agenda. Groups of people pile into Paris with itineraries – endless lists of things they must do and see within a tight schedule. It’s like a scavenger hunt for culture. And as anyone who has ever been lonely and single knows, the harder you look for connection and the more desperate you are to find something special, the more it tends to allude you. And so in their rush to see ‘everything’, they see nothing and they leave Paris wondering what all the fuss is about.
—Amy Thibodeau, Solo Travel: How Traveling to Paris Alone Changed My Life
Lovely article… makes me dreamy about traveling in Europe, solo, by train…
