My Paris

 

 Right now,  every moment in my life feels monumental. I wrote my last English Literature essay ever last week. I take my last sit down exam ever on May 18, good ridden to blue books. I turn 22 on June 11 (I take donations of cupcakes, preferably red velvet). And finally, I graduate from the University of Edinburgh on June 28, which still seems far away. That's a lot for two months. I'll be an "adult" after, whatever that means. It's a bit daunting, to say the least.  

 

 As exciting as this all is, it's very easy to find myself looking at my planner more than what's around me. This is when I pull up my photos from Paris. I spent my too brief trip trying to take a non-cliche photo of one of the most photogenic cities in the world and the best way I found to accomplish this goal was to search for details: that balcony set up with a cute table I could picture myself eating a baguette on (hey, I didn't say I stopped thinking in cliches), the lamp post that had more personality that whatever it was lighting up, or even just a reflection in a puddle (which what the last photo of this post depicts).

 

  

Paris is an easy city to get overwhelmed in. The winding streets are so picturesque that sometimes you don't even notice you're lost. There's more culture than anyone can absorb in a lifetime there, yet I still tried to pack it into less than week. Delving into the details saved me though. Searching for the beauty in the banal ended up being more interesting than what I saw in museums and gave me something more unique to bring back than just another postcard of a painting.

My goal on every vacation is to not feel like a tourist and finding things myself that locals don't even notice because they see it every day is one of the best ways to do this.  I made my own Paris.

This will be my last Paris post, but I'm planning to extend its theme.

 If I can find the hidden gems in Paris, then I should look for them in Edinburgh too. I'm not someone who pessimistically counts down the days and thinks to herself, "This will be my last latte at Artisan Roast ever." However, Edinburgh really is a city I've made my own and it's worth photographing my Edinburgh before I leave it. So just like I showed you "my Paris," for the next few posts I will show you "my Edinburgh", as well tying up loose ends around the parts of Scotland I still need to see.