Day 5

I am SUCH a forgetful blogger…. So I’ve been in Paris for five days now, and as I expected, I’ve had ups and downs. I am a terribly shy person. I enjoy complete solitude for long periods of time, and in fact require it to recharge and be able to function adequately. Fortunately, I don’t see these traits as character flaws—in fact I embrace them as part of what makes me uniquely me. Nonetheless, these idiosyncrasies do make functioning alone in a foreign country challenging. I do speak enough French to get by, but am embarrassed about my terrible pronunciation and so have avoided using it as much as possible. And while when at home I can remain happily holed up in our house five or six nights a week without guilt, here I want to see and do as much as possible and so am making myself go out daily—even when I’d rather just curl up with a good book. It, admittedly, has not been easy. But I suppose nothing worthwhile ever is. And my sometimes-debilitating shyness is, in large part, why I decided to make this trip. Despite my tendencies—my introversion and inertia—I want to be the type of person who is constantly challenging herself to be a better, more complete person. I would like to routinely step outside my comfort zone and truly experience life to the fullest, so that when I look back when I am old (right around the corner, really), I can honestly say that mine was a life well-lived.

To that end, I have been sight-seeing like crazy! Here are some pictures of my experiences so far:

This is a rainbow I saw near the old Opera on my first night here.


The Louvre.


Tour Saint Jacques.


Pont Neuf.


Jesus at the entrance to Notre Dame.


"Locks of Love" on the Pont des Arts.


Beautiful stained glass at St. Germain l'Auxerrois.


And finally, my latest sketch of how I imagine Phil, Minnie, and Sassy are spending their time without me.

P.S. I discovered today that a glass of Bordeaux helps tremendously with my fear of mispronunciation, and I was soon speaking without hesitation! Yay for me! But I’ll have to keep a steady supply of wine on hand for the rest of the trip…..