Sitting on a train bound for Bratislava, I reflect on how I got to this moment. My travel companion, who is a new traveler, has conjured up thoughts on how I made it to here, about to cross the border into my 57th country. I remember my very first trip with Anna and Julie to Paris five years ago. Before this trip I was the typical American girl choosing vacation destinations closer to home such as Mexico and cruises to the Caribbean. My job has taken me to Europe, Asia, and South America; however, work trips allow less time to truly explore a culture. This Throwback Thursday is special, because this was the trip that started it all, bonding us as travel companions for life: our first trip to Paris!
Paris was an easy choice as it was a new destination for all of us. The movie Midnight in Paris had just released and this provided all the inspiration we needed. Using AirBnB for the first time, Anna and I found a beautiful apartment with a garden in Montmartre. Exhausted from travel, but never too exhausted for breakfast beers, after checking in we parked ourselves at a café to plan out our next 5 days. After a quick nap we headed toward Sacre Coeur to explore the area of artists and Bohemia. We never managed to leave Montmartre that first night. Finding ourselves at a little café above the Moulin Rouge, we drank beer mixed with Fanta, (which tastes better than it sounds) and made a dinner of pomme frites and creme brulée before heading down the hill. The last thing I remember before heading back to the apartment is shots being set on fire at the bar and techno music bumping. Back at the apartment, listening to the Backstreet Boys, Anna and I laughingly fought over a stuffed tiger we found in the apartment we named Le Tigre before drifting off to sleep.
The next few days are a blur now, of exploring the city, shopping on the Champs de Elysees, and bar hopping in St Germain and the Latin Quarter. Our boat tour along the Seine was an amazing trip, as we were cleverly armed with water bottles filled with wine. It’s the best way to cover all the must-see sites of Paris in an efficient amount of time. Our nightly dinners were amazing, including fondue, steak frites and more creme brulée. I couldn’t even tell you the name of that fondue place, but the fond memory of bonding over wine and cheese is there forever. Later finding three cute French boys on the street walking past us in Odéon, we ended our night drinking wine with them under the Eiffel Tower. Being one of the greatest museums in the world, Anna wanted to spend at least one day exploring the Louvre; but she dragged along the two least museum people in the world, so after 5 full hours of beautiful art, it was definitely time for happy hour cocktails!
The details of this trip have faded away; I couldn’t tell you a single name of a restaurant or which boat company we used. (It’s Anna who always remembers those things.) What IS important is that this particular trip started something– it was not long before we were planning another adventure together and then another. I recently went back to Paris on a business trip, visited that same area of Montmartre, and found that little bar on the hill and sent pictures back to the girls. They both knew without missing a beat exactly what bar it was. This trip bonded us together as best friends, and as travel buddies for life– this is what started our way too wanderlust. Sitting on a train bound for Bratislava, I reflect on how I got to this moment. My travel companion, who is a new traveler, has conjured up thoughts on how I made it to here, about to cross the border into my 57th country. I remember my very first trip with Anna and Julie to Paris five years ago. Before this trip I was the typical American girl choosing vacation destinations closer to home such as Mexico and cruises to the Caribbean. My job has taken me to Europe, Asia, and South America; however, work trips allow less time to truly explore a culture. This Throwback Thursday is special, because this was the trip that started it all, bonding us as travel companions for life: our first trip to Paris!
~By: Amanda
