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And just like that, I bought a round-trip ticket to France without telling anyone but the person I was staying with… Let me rewind a little bit.

My friend Katelyn whom I roomed with the first two months I was living in Wyoming had plans to move to France and teach English after she finished her summer in Jackson Hole. I told her I was going to come and visit her, but I don’t know if she thought I was being serious or not… Flash forward to the end of our time in Wyoming, Katelyn moves across oceans to France, and I move back home to Mississippi… I find a full-time job within a few weeks of being back in Mississippi, and a few months passed…

I’ll be honest. The post-mountain life and everyday adventures, and beautiful views were something my hometown could not compete with. That trip to France was sounding better and better.

A quick Google search, text exchanges with Katelyn, and a click of a button later, here I come, Paris! That’s right, I bought a killer cheap ticket out of Jackson, MS from March 30th to April 7th. Now, for the rundown.

March 30th:

Heading to the airport early, I hop on standby to try and get an earlier flight out of Jackson due to bad weather and tornadoes. (Y’all l remember how many tornadoes we had around March to April of this year?) Scoring the last seat on the plane, I fly to Atlanta and head to my designated gate and hang out until I board for my long flight to Paris.

March 31st:

Gooooooood morning, FRANCE! After waking myself up on the plane because I was snoring, and my foot was probably too close to comfort with the guy next to me, I was a short 1.5 hours out from landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Upon landing, I knew my mission was to follow the signs to the train station, purchase a ticket TO PARIS (Gare du Nord Station), and then I would find Katelyn waiting for me outside of a bakery.

I had rehearsed this in my head, knowing I wouldn’t have any service because I did not get an international plan.

I hopped off the plane, grabbed my luggage, and then it hit me… WHERE AM I??? LOL… Of course, people are running around like chickens with their heads cut off and I was just trying to act like I knew what I was doing. It kept getting harder to keep cool when people would come up to me and try to talk to me in French when the only phrases I really remembered were “Can I go to the bathroom”, “grapefruit”, and “Close the door”… Oh well!!! (But thank you Madame Johnston for those two years of French class in high school).

I followed signs to the train station, somehow walked right through customs, and then bought my train ticket to Paris. After buying my ticket, I wasn’t sure where to go, and I didn’t see anyone in charge to ask. So, I stood at the wrong side of the train station for about thirty minutes, until I realized I needed to go to the other side of the station and go down a flight of stairs to catch the train. TALK ABOUT AN IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT! I didn’t panic, but I did waste two hours of my life lost, just standing in the wrong place meddling around.

Anyways, I get on the train, throw on some makeup, and head towards Gare du Nord, where I FINALLLYYYY find Katelyn standing there! WHOOO HOOO!! We throw my luggage in a temporary locker, head across the street to a bakery, and grab some breakfast. Katelyn takes me on a “walking tour” of Paris, and we see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedril, the William Faulkner bookstore, the Louvre, and so much more.

Even though my eyes were pried open, my shoes were so uncomfortable to walk in, and it was on and off raining, sleeting, AND snowing after Katelyn had promised how great the weather would be, it was the BEST DAY. We ended the day with a glass of red wine and a visit to the famous Catacombs.

After our visit to the Catacombs, we grabbed my luggage and then took the train back home to where Katelyn lives at Saint-Just-en-Chaussée and slept like rocks all night!

April 1st:

Happy April Fools Day! Katelyn and I woke up this morning and it was SNOWING! Can you believe that?? Seeing snow sprinkle down in France was such a magical experience and something both of us will never forget. After catching the train from Saint-Just-en-Chaussée to Paris, we headed to the National Museum of Modern Art.

Not only was this place huge, but it was also so beautiful too! We spent the morning there, browsing through so many beautiful pieces of art. From Henri Matisse to Alberto Magnelli, Robert Delaunay, and so much more, we had such a fabulous time looking at all of the paintings, sculptures, and exhibitions.

Before leaving the museum, we got to look at some pretty awesome views from the very top of the museum’s building. Check them out! How beautiful and big is this city???

After our morning in the National Museum of Modern Art, we grabbed some lunch at an Italian restaurant nearby. The next stop was stopping in a few thrift stores and finding some goods.

April 2nd:

Talk about exhaustion… My jet lag was catching up with me and Katelyn and I slept until 2pm! We both needed the rest, especially due to the fact that our next few days called for more travel to the south of France.

We left Saint-Just-en-Chausée around 3pm after having a beer before, headed to Paris with our bags packed, and knew we had a long night ahead considering the fact that our flight was around 7am the next morning and there would be no way to go to and from Katelyn’s apartment, back to Paris, to the airport, etc.

We got into Paris and stored our luggage at some lockers nearby, headed around the city, and found this super cute and cool restaurant named Café Blanche to eat at. It was probably the best experience we had all day. We sat next to these other couples who also weren’t native to Paris, the server called it the international corner (as a joke, of course).

After dinner, Katelyn showed me Moulin Rouge– a cabaret in Paris. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. The original venue was destroyed by fire in 1915. Isn’t that interesting?

We then decided to check out the nightlife scene of the city. Little to our surprise, Paris calls for dress code after dress code to get into most of the bars, clubs, and whatever. We weren’t dressed in pantyhose, heels, and dresses, therefore we didn’t get in!

We finally found one bar to go to, that had three or more rooms, and met some people in line while we waited to see if we would get in or be denied again. (LOL!)

We got in, spent the night there making friends with other people, and then it was time for us to head back to our luggage and then, to the airport. Yes- we got no sleep this night!

April 3rd:

Greetings from Nice, France! We had an early flight that we both slept on and finally arrived in Nice, got through security, then headed to our hostel. What a quaint and cute little town…

Katelyn had been to Nice before, so she was showing me around and we picked up lunch at a sandwich shop and took it down to the water to enjoy. We walked around the town, stopped in some cute stores, and we found this one shop that had a bunch of antique postcards, paintings, and more. I picked up some postcards and found some items that reminded me of home, all the way in Nice, France!

We got a mid-afternoon tea, and finally were realizing we were on the verge of complete exhaustion from our night before, we had an early night.

April 4th:

After waking up well-rested and sharing a hostel with our new 80-year-old friend, we picked this day out to be the day we take a train to Monaco. Hopped on a train and there before lunchtime, we spent the afternoon touring the beautiful city of Monte Carlo and Monaco.

Walking up to the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, we saw no prince but we did see the best views of the area! It was so cool, too, that we were there when we were because they were setting up for the Grand Prix.

After some lunch, drinks, and shopping, we headed back to Nice and got ready to plan the rest of our night.

After meeting some other girls our age in the hostel lobby area, we all decided to explore the town on a Monday night and check out the nightlife.

April 5th:

After a long and very fun day in Nice, we slept in and rested from our days before. Katelyn and I woke up right around lunchtime and we both were craving a hamburger of some sort and/or chicken sandwich. Well, we were in luck because we found a local chain restaurant that sold just that! Better yet- the name of it was “Chicken Chicken“.

We enjoyed our afternoon shopping around and sitting by the beach. It was such a beautiful day!!! The day ended with a cup of tiramisu, our hostel bar crawl, and meeting new friends from all over the world.

April 6th:

Wishing it wasn’t the case, we had to fly out of Nice, France, and head back to Paris, France. Katelyn and I jumped on that early flight back, said goodbye to all of our new friends, and headed back up north from the south end of the country. Knowing I was flying out of the country the next day, I did all of my research and everything I could to try and stay longer… But my plane tickets weren’t changeable. Darn it!

After getting back from Nice to the Paris airport, finding a quick place to get a Covid test done so I can fly back to America, we stopped at McDonald’s before heading back to Saint-Just-en-Chausée.

With one last homemade French dinner, one last time drinking all the tea, and one last night of sleep in Saint-Just-en-Chausée, we got back to Katelyn’s place and I started packing for my long day ahead!

April 7th:

4a.m.-

I am up, packed, and ready to walk myself all the way to the Saint-Just-en-Chausée bus stop and get on my train to Paris at 4:30a.m. Having planned all of this out the day before and rehearsing it in my head, making sure I have enough time and don’t miss my flight, my next step after getting on the train and taking it to Paris was to then hop on the Paris metro/ RER and then take it to the airport! All steps are aligning perfectly, and I have run into no bumps in the road of my journey. Navigating through France with no international plan wasn’t ideal, but I knew every single turn, had done this before, and was pretty confident in doing so with no service.

Now, just to get through airport security and customs, to come back to the states!

After spending days in France, I came back to my regular routine in Mississippi. I will say, I was in a post-travel funk for a while and I was really wanting to go back! My time in France with Katelyn is something I will always cherish and never forget.

Jusqu’à ce qu’on se retrouve, France…
Au revoir!!!