Paris.

I know that everybody knows that Paris in the Springtime is something special, but I think you really have to be there to fully realize it. Both of my other trips to the city have been during the winter, and though wonderful, they were also cold and gray. We were lucky enough to arrive into Paris with blue skies and t-shirt weather. Since we had all been before our days weren't rushed and we meandered around the city on a continuous search for twist cones. We picnicked and laid out and just enjoyed relaxing which is something you forget about after countless 'MUST SIGHTSEE' trips.

The Parisians probably think it's incredibly tacky but I am in love with the Eiffel tower light show. We were strolling by the Seine and stopped to snap a picture of the tower from afar when it burst into the show, surprising all of us. Although it went off while we were climbing it in February, seeing it from afar is a completely different experience. Being up close is a total shock to the senses. It combines with the surrounding city, lit up for the night and almost overwhelms you.

From the Seine it's more of a sparkle.

My favorite is when you look just to the left or right of it and let it slip out of focus and it's more like a diamond catching the light or the sun hitting the water. I don't know, for some reason it gave me a sense of perspective. Sometimes you just have to move yourself out of a situation and look at it from a different place. It's really easy to panic about study abroad ending, or coming up to the beginning of senior year, or all the unexpected things that roll your way but I guess one thing I've realized from this whole experience is that things always tend to work out. You miss your flight, you make new friends and have the best tapas of your life, you have a bad night and your nouveau amis talk you through, and even though people leave, you find ways to keep them close or ways to get through it.

Tomorrow Lauren, Coder and Jackie leave early for Amsterdam and Vicky doesn't get in until seven, which makes it my first day exploring a town on my own. As much as it probably won't feel right to picnic alone, I think it will also make me wish I'd taken a little time to travel by myself...except for the lack of jumping pics. We'll see, we'll see. Regardless, I'm so excited to see Vicky and explore three new places together...Amsterdam, Turkey and Greece.