Over a glass of red wine and rabbit pâté, a distant Parisian cousin told me his best bit of advice, “The best thing to do in Paris is walk around, get lost, and enter.” Wednesdays are my free days, so I took this advice and ran with it. 

My walking shoes

To a certain extent, I have been getting “lost” for the past week. I made a pact to myself, partly because spring break is coming up (which involves lying on the beach in Spain + Portugal), partly because I am trying to be frugal and waiting to buy a month long metro pass on the 1st, but mostly, because I wanted to see Paris by foot. 

Street Art

Getting lost today consisted of walking across two arrondissements and finding myself in front of Musée de Cluny, a medieval museum. I get free admission, because my VISA grants me a temporary membership of the European Union. Life size chess board outside the museum 

The one and only Adam

After my time in museum, I wandered over to Luxembourg Gardens. Before entering the cast iron gates, I plugged my headphones in and listened to this song. I suddenly became completely overwhelmed and emotional. It wasn’t a particularly beautiful day, but life just felt so beautiful in that moment. The pigeons were humming, the small children were playing tag, and through the fog couples, young and old were holding hands. I don’t know what it was but, It was touching and brought a few tears to my eyes. 

I then began my walk home, passing the landmark that daily reminds me I’m a few blocks away. 

Lion that seperates this crazy intersection

Just as I was brainstorming plans for when I got home, I came across the Catacombs. The catacombs are a series of tunnels rooted deep beneath Paris. Hundreds of years ago, when urban planners needed to make more space in Paris- they decided to un-burry everyone in the cemeteries and put them underground. So, I walked alone, hundreds of feet below Paris in this limestone grave yard. 

They happened to be under the street I live on…