This was my first holiday I’d ever spent completely alone, and I wanted to make the best of it in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

I had a wonderful walk to Sacre Coeur Cathedral after breakfast and a coffee at an outside cafe. These little outdoor cafes were littered everywhere around the city, and the street-side chairs were always filled with people enjoying a coffee or glass of wine, enjoying the sunshine and people watching. I knew I had to have one of these meals to feel quintessentially Parisian, even for just a moment. It was glorious.

I walked up to the Sacre Coeur cathedral but it was SO packed – I just had a quick look at the outside and left… I mean, it was Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Catholic calendar, so I wasn’t too shocked. It didn’t help that there were so many hecklers outside trying to tie bracelets on you and other shenanigans – I had heard about these scams and it was kind of weird to see it in action. Thankfully, no one came up to me and tried to tie any bracelets on me, but I was close enough to witness the act a couple of times to make myself scarce from the situation.

I then walked to Moulin Rouge, which was in the red light district, quite different during the daytime than what I imagine it would be at night. While the district pertains a notoriety of not being particularly safe, I felt a lot more safe in the district than I thought I was going to be….. In fact, I felt less safe on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg.

I then walked around Montmartre, probably my favourite area of the city. It was just blocks and blocks of bakeries, cheese shops, coffee shops, and meat rotisserie stores and it was everything I had ever dreamed and imagined Paris to be. I had a pain au chocolat blanc, which was a roll with white chocolate in it and it was heavenly. I really enjoyed exploring these shops and bakeries. I think if I was to move to Paris, the Montmartre district would be where I’d want my home base to be located.

I then walked down to the Eiffel tower area and got myself a delicious treat – a raspberry tart, which i enjoyed in front of the Eiffel Tower. The most perfect end to the most perfect trip, Paris is definitely on my list to visit once I go to Europe again. Who knows what this jewel of a city will offer to me on my next visit….

Note: this post is a recapture from when I studied abroad for the year during 2013-2014. It was rewritten to enhance the included media and writing quality for this blog. The original post can be found here.