Oct 2013, a trip to Paris
For the first time in my life I travelled alone to Paris. Actually, it was a spontaneous decision and within a short time I had to find a place where I can sleep. Since I was at the age of sixteen, I dreamt of going to Paris. Just me and a rucksack. Luckily, I have had the possibility to stay at Náyade's house (at this point also a big thank you to Charlotte M.) It was a great experience to have Náyade as a host and my couchsurfing experience wasn't bad at all. When I arrived there, I was very impressed by the immense view from her window. Seeing all the glowing lights over the city by night was just wonderful. I mean, I am a girl from the country side and I felt like a tiny fish in a big aquarium. I was fully excited. On the next day I wanted to take some pictures of people in Paris. That was my plan that I set for myself and I wrapped my camera around my wrist. Like a hand tool. I never thought I would meet awesome people there with different characters and talents. One of them was Maxime, who had the "cleanest" sketch book and I couldn't believe how brilliant his drawings were. I talked a very long time to him until I took the next Metro and at the next place, where the Notre Dame is, I met a very fashionable couple. Martin and Gül from Istanbul. They looked nice together and at the end I got a selfmade postcard from Martin. On the cover there was a picture of his painted art work and on the back side he wrote me his email adresse with his nicely looking fountain pen that he had grabbed out of his jacket. This gift made my day and I appreciated it very much, because it was somehow personal. Instead of shopping or doing the usual tourist tour I only walked around, enjoyed the few sunny moments and travelled the whole day with the Metro. Without having a plan in my mind, without paying much attention on my watch. I wanted to waste time in this beautiful city. I only followed my instinct and I got lost in the smallest alleys, but most french people were so kind to explain me the way. I guess, my mind was somewhere else ;) But it is important to stay calm and positive in difficult situations. Right at the start it was hard to walk more slowly than other people who were in a hurry to go to work. I noticed that travelling alone is the best way to learn more about yourself. It is true, you will gain new perspectives.
thanks to Aga, Vanessa, Sergey, Alexandra & Andrey, Martin & Gül and Maxime
