Paris - Day 1

This past Spring Break, I went on an adventure. I had an amazing opportunity to visit some family friends in London and decided that on my way over I would stop in beautiful and charming Paris. This was actually not my first solo trip to the continent (I did a summer camp in Cambridge, England when I was 16) but nonetheless I was excited to go exploring on my own. I jumped on a flight basically right after my Family Medicine exam was over and settled in. My seatmate was a middle-aged Spanish teacher from Colorado. She proceeded to have several free Heinekens. I proceeded to have a few free glasses of white wine and we got along famously.

Eight hours later we landed, and I hopped in a cab to my hotel (later figured out that I could have taken the train and saved 30 euros but whatever). I was able to check in early (score!) and despite being pretty exhausted forced myself out of bed and into the boulevards. First stop, The Louvre.

I've always been obsessed with all-things Egyptian and spent a fair amount of time in the antiquities wing. Honestly, I find the Louvre to be pretty overwhelming so after about three hours of walking around I got claustrophobic and left. A few years ago I was in Paris with my friend Jess. It was freezing. We were starving. We stumbled out of the Louvre and into a delicious tiny bakery -- I think we had a fig tart -- and I was determined to find this little hole in the wall. I managed to track it down...

That pink pastry? Probably the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life. In Paris if you're dressed nicely and walking alone it's not too hard to pass as a Parisian. But as soon as I opened my greedy mouth to order I revealed who I really was -- a dumb American that can't speak French. Well that dumb American got that delicious baked good and sat down on those moss-covered church steps next to this gorgeous, fashionable French girl. Upon sitting down I realized that I did not have the proper utensils to eat this thing and was forced to use my fingers. Luckily the French girl was absorbed in her phone conversation and didn't see me stuffing it into my mouth. The outside was this strawberry-marshmallow fluff and it was filled with delicate lemon custard. Mouth watering...Also glad to see that cupcakes have caught on in the city of lights. After devouring my treat I walked around a little more, snapping pictures of beautiful things, which is not hard to do in Paris. I ate steak and pomfrittes for dinner and fell asleep soundly.