"Paris, Je t´aime!"- would be the first thing that comes up to my mind when I think of this stunning city. The last time I went to Paris was in 2013 and I already knew back then that I wanted to come back so badly. Almost four years later, this finally became reality and I had one of the best trips ever. So the thing is, my two best friends and I planned on going to the Lollapalooza festival in Paris this summer because we went to the festival in Berlin last year and honestly liked the Parisian line up better, so we extended our trip by 3 days and planned this year´s summer holidays to the city of love. Man, was that a great decision.
Thursday...
Our trip started at 4 am on thursday. Obviously my favorite time to wake up. We got into the pouring rain on our way to the train but we didn´t even care. Once we arrived in Paris we got completely lost on our way to the Air BnB, which is the most typical thing that could have happened to us, but luckily I am the walking google maps of the group, so I handled the situation like a real pro (not really). Our Air BnB was the cutest little studio in baby blue tones and just enough space for the three of us. We lived close to Sacre Coeur, so we explored Montmarte and the area around the same day. Again: No clue where we were, but the great thing about Paris is that it looks cute no matter where you are (almost. We lived in Barbès so I know this is not entirely true.) The view at the top of Montmartre was just as stunning as I remembered it. Would definitely recommend going there. After our walk to the top we took a bus (better than the metro if you want to see more) to the Eiffel tower and continued the tourist life until we came home, cooked, had tea and talked. A pattern that we tend to follow a LOT.
Friday...
Was one of my favorite days. We got up late to get over the shock of waking up at night the day before and strolled along the Camps-Elysées, shopped a little and walked to the Louvre and Notre Dame. Oh almost forgot: We went to a vegan patisserie and I bought some seriously fancy cake which I can not show you because I devoured it right away. At nine p.m. or so, we went back to "Trocadéro" to see the Eiffel Tour sparkle, which it does hourly every night. Our view was amazing (maybe because we got the best spot behind the barriers...) and we listened to a street artist. Now comes probably my favorite part of the day. My best friend Em loves to sing and she has not been sining in public for long, but when she asked the musician to play a certain song he invited her to sing with him. It was so cool to see her sing in front of the Eiffel Tour and I was definitely proud of her being so brave.
Saturday and Sunday...
Lollapalooza was obviously on the weekend and it took place at the "Hippodrome de Longchamps". Our last festival experience was pretty stressful so we decided to hang out and relax a bit more this year. And we had the best time. Although the past two days had already made our feet and legs hurt, we did our best at forgetting about that. We saw artists such as Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd, Charlie xcx, Alan Walker, Lana del Rey and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Yup, pretty cool. The absolute best performance in our opinion was by the Imagine Dragons. I must admit that I had quite low expectations for them, but they were SOO good. They had a great show, they were loud and emotional, but all of that in such a personal way. I can not even describe it, but if you ever get the chance to see them life, you should definitely do it. I was also really excited to see Lana del Rey, but unfortunately had to meet some unpleasant personalities in the crowd (shoutout to you) but I guess this all is just part of the deal. Lana was amazing and that is what matters. I don't think I need to say much about RHCP. They are freaking legends and I will never ever forget dancing in the pouring rain in my bright yellow rain coat with my best friends in the whole wide world to the songs of my brothers´ and my childhood. God, writing this makes me miss it even more!
Monday...
Was the day of our departure and the day, when we were slowly giving up on our existence. Four extremely tiring days had passed and we definitely did not want to walk the extra mile (literally). So we bought tickets to the top of the Eiffel Tour and stood in line for two hours. We didn´t even mind the rain and the queue at this point. We took our time and it actually filled the whole day until our train back home...
Things I realized...
Are that traveling on a budget is not that hard. We are super cheap girls (does that sound wrong? idk) and with a little effort of finding a cute Air BnB and by booking the train ride long in advance, we did not have to pay a fortune for this trip. Especially cooking at home made a big difference. After all, eating out in Paris is super expensive and not very exciting for three vegetarians/vegans.
Another thing that was quite sad to see, that even though I took advanced classes in French in school, my French does not get me anywhere. I can order baguette and I understand most of what they try to slowly explain to me, but French people don't seem to understand me and communication overall is difficult. So either German schools need to step up their French Game or French schools should teach proper English.
After all, it was exciting to go on another trip on our own and to organize the whole thing ourselves. You learn from every experience, either good or bad, and at the end of each journey you come back richer. The only thing I do not want to think about is that this was kind of a farewell trip, because I am leaving home in two days. But I am thankful to have spent this time with the people I love the most.
Bisous, Viktoria
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