When my partner, J, and I were long distance, we were really long distance. I mean 7756 miles of it. This was obviously a difficult experience, but we were both lucky enough to see each other several times through that year. Our first visit was a trip back to Wyoming for him for his Winter break from teaching. Saying goodbye was heartbreaking but we knew that the next time that we would see each other would be in Paris.
Working a job that pays something close to minimum wage, it was no easy feat for me to plan a two-week European vacation. I’m not sure I would have pulled it off if I didn’t use Scott’s Cheap Flights to find a flight from Denver to Paris for $410 round-trip. It also helped that I quit eating out, rarely drank, and kicked the habit of buying coffee in the morning!
When spring break finally rolled around, I excitedly boarded my first international flight. Eight hours later when I landed at Charles de Gaulle I had a message from J, who was supposed to beat me there by an hour and wait for me to arrive. Rain in Dubai delayed his first flight. By the time I got to France he made it to Kiev to wait for his own flight to Paris. His ETA was about 10 PM, leaving me eight hours on my own.
I found my way from the airport to Gare du Nord and from there to the AirBnb we booked nearby. In the hour it took for me to arrive at the studio apartment we would call home the next few nights, I realized how rusty my French had gotten since high school (even with the recent practice on DuoLingo). After checking in and sending J a message telling him I got there safe, I took a walk around the neighborhood to take everything in. My stroll around the 10th Arrondissement was both terrifying and exhilarating as a brand-new traveler and as a woman walking alone. I scoped out a bar to visit when J finally arrived and walked back to our AirBnb to take a shower.
I woke up to a text from J saying he had landed and was boarding the metro. After my shower I immediately crashed without realizing. The timing was quite lucky and I was able to meet J at Gare du Nord to walk him to our place so he could ditch his bags. I didn’t even allow him to “rest” like I had and dragged him to the Brasserie Barbès where we each had a glass of red wine and enjoyed a really cool view of the train bridge. Being from Laramie, we have a special appreciation for trains.
