I booked a trip to Paris for a reunion with Oscar and Griffin after it had been three years since we had all been together. Paris itself was not at the top of my list, as I had no strong interest in any of the attractions or sights, but I was still excited to see what the city had to offer.

I arrived late on a Tuesday at the Paris-Orly Airport. I was greeted by Griffin, who was standing there looking like a seasoned French local. Compared to the Copenhagen metro, the Paris metro felt overwhelming and took us a while to travel to Griffin’s apartment located in the center of the city. When I first walked in, I was blown away with how massive and fancy his apartment was, especially compared to my tiny dorm in Copenhagen.

In the morning I wanted to get out and explore the city, so we went for a run that took us by many of the major attractions. Within five minutes of leaving the apartment we were at the Eiffel tower, which to my surprise blew my mind to see. I really had no excitement to see it before getting to Paris, probably because I had become desensitized to seeing it in pictures and media but there was something so spectacular about seeing it right in front of me. We continued on to pass the Notre Dame, Louvre, Seine River, and weave through the busy streets. On that run, I really started to fall in love with Paris.

That evening we challenged ourselves with cooking a ratatouille dish (only because of the movie, of course). We first found an intermediate recipe to take on, then went to the market to stock up on produce. We had picked out about 15 vegetables and some sausage links. We then perfectly executed the cooking (aside from me slicing my thumb) and had a wonderful meal while the ratatouille soundtrack was playing in the background.

At this point we were still waiting for Oscar because his original flight was canceled. He arrived the next day and we made our way to Sacré-Cœur. We got burgers and Heinekens and watched brave tourists join the street performer to attempt various Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Bob Marley songs. There were no notable performances, but definitely a highlight watching the sun set over the city from the top of the hill.

We had a sizable walk back to Griffin’s apartment, but it worked out perfectly to sightsee along the way. We passed the Arc de Triomphe, while the sky was glowing a vibrant shade of blue behind it. We wanted to go stand under the Arc but could not find the tunnel to get us under the chaotic roundabout surrounding it, so we decided to run across the eight-lane road to make it there. It was dangerous but thrilling and worth seeing the view from underneath.

We then continued down the Champs-Élysées, passing all the luxury stores along the way. This eventually took us back to the Eiffel Tower, which was even more spectacular to see at night. It had timed up perfectly with the hour-mark, so we were able to watch it sparkle for a few minutes.

The following day we had one main objective: get some Five Guys’ burgers. When Oscar lived in Carmel, our favorite spot to eat after soccer was Five Guys, so we had to make a reunion trip there. We found one and it was fantastic.

Following that, Griffin had an exam, so Oscar and I were left on our own to explore. We decided to go to the Louvre, but struggled without having Griffin as a tour guide. We spent over an hour trying to navigate through barricaded streets (we accidentally chose to go to Paris during a week full of protests). We eventually made it, but at that point the line for entry was over two hours and required a wait outside in the rain. We skipped that and instead went to the Paris Sewer Museum, the next best thing.

We met back up with Griffin after a lovely walk through the sewers and ventured out to experience the Paris night life. Griffin had a favorite jazz bar, Caveau de la Huchette, which was in the movie La La Land. We waltzed about there, then trekked back home. Along the way we passed sections of the city that had been burnt and torn apart by protestors, giving the city a bit of an apocalyptic feeling at 2 am.

The next day we had no set plans, so we ventured into the city to see what we could find. We ended up back at the Louvre, this time with no rain and a much shorter line.

Similarly to the Eiffel Tower, I did not have a strong desire to see the Mona Lisa, but it had me very impressed, despite the massive crowd around it. Our intent was to be in and out of the Louvre, but due to the unfathomable size of that place, we were stuck in there for over three hours. We eventually found the sortie (my favorite French word) and carried on with our day.

Our evening plans included dinner reservations and tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. For dinner, we went to a fancy dinner for our standards. We had oysters, steaks, baked potatoes, and red wine. Ordering wine with meals has been a new experience since coming to Europe, but it definitely makes us for a more grown up experience. As we sat there, we could sense the older families and couples looking at us trying to figure out our story of why we were there, as looked different than all the other patrons.

Following dinner, we made our way to the Eiffel Tower to start our climb. We were an hour past our time slot, which was the latest slot they offered, but still were able to make it up. It worked out perfectly because we were the only people doing the climb, so we could enjoy it all to ourselves.

For my last day, we escaped the bounds of the city and took a trip to the Palace of Versailles. We only visited the gardens but rented a rowboat and indulged in freshly squeezed orange juice. It was the perfect change of pace after five days in the city.

After a memorable six days, it’s safe to say Paris significantly exceeded my expectations and could not have been any better. 10/10.

Advice to my future self: Let go of preconcieved notions and expectations before experiencing something for yourself.