Lessons from Paris came from not getting to see what I wanted to see. Once I reached a certain age, I decided to stop dodging the daunting things. I discontinued playing in safe mode and dared to be bolder. I didn’t want to look back at my life and find it full of regrets even if that meant sometimes I would fail. My two day visit to Paris was a perfect example of this. The venture started out exciting with a train trip through the chunnel from London to Paris. For those of you who don’t know, the word chunnel comes from combining the words tunnel and channel, because it was built to take a train through the Channel. http://www.raileurope.com/blog/12355-chunnel-facts-london-paris On the first day, my husband and I took a tour that toted us around Paris to view the major sites. Part of our tour was on a Seine river boat which gave us a glimpse of some of the city’s famous icons such as the opera house Napoleon attended regularly. When we weren’t on the Seine, our tour group was in a bus looking at other well-known Paris attractions such as the Arc de Triomphe, Louvre Museum, Notre Dame, fountains I don’t know the names of, and the famous Harrods. The highlight of my Paris experience was to go up into the Eiffel Tower. The second day we were on our own to spend some time at the places we only saw the previous day. My wish was to visit the Louvre. I knew a partial day wouldn’t be enough time to see even a fourth of the whole museum, but I wanted to see the Mona Lisa and other renowned art pieces. The Louvre was closed for maintenance. What are the chances? How often does a place like that close in the middle of the week? I didn’t research this information, and I don’t want to know now unless I plan on returning there. I still don't regret the trip. Any fears of international travel were unfounded and I did see many amazing things. Before, traveling to Europe seemed impossible and scary. Now, I'm happy I took the leap. Before, getting a book published seemed impossible and scary. Now, I'm happy I went for it. Has it been everything I thought it would be? No, of course not. It doesn't matter, I no longer wonder, "What if". Hop on that perverbial train to Paris and see where it will take you. If the Louvre is closed for maintenance, take another dive into the unknown and experience something else. Side note: Paris also taught me that they weren’t kidding about pick-pockets with all their posted warning signs. I took them serious, but my father-in-law didn’t. He can now cross off his list, "getting robbed by a gypsy on the subway" of things not to do in Paris. I suggest if you go to Paris, ask the experts on how to avoid this, because it is common.
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