Roaming Solo

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Paris with my husband who was working there. "Oh, you can come," he replied when asked, "but you'll be on your own all day." As if that was something new! So armed with a quote from my much loved Dr. Seuss, “Things may happen and often do to people as brainy and footsy as you,”  I set off on another adventure, this time in the wonderful city of Paris.

Tai Chi ~ Palais de Luxembourg

 Saturday started out sunny so I walked, wandering the streets with camera in hand. We were staying in the 14th arrondissement, a walk of about 30-40 minutes into the city centre. As I wandered I saw the Parisians walking home with purpose armed with their baguettes; saw children cycling to music lessons, instrument cases on their backs  and in the Jardin du Luxembourg, gardens once walked by Marie de Medici and now a favorite park of the locals, jogging/kickboxing/tai chi' all being enjoyed in the autumn sun. From that park full of life worshipping I went to the Pantheon, an old church where the distinguished French go to be buried....Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, Marie Curie, Braille, just to name a few and I was reminded of how many of the worlds great thinkers came from France.

Being a solo tourist is fine but there are times when you wish you could turn to someone and share a moment....such as when I saw this wonderful sculpture in the Pantheon of three women. It made me smile as I immediately thought of the phrase, "talk to the hand." I so dearly wanted to share this moment with someone but had to content myself with a private giggle.

Talk to the hand ~ The Pantheon

But my experience as a lone wander became more powerful when I decided to join a "free" walking tour in the afternoon. As I stood surrounded by strangers the lady next to me commented on the weather and so a conversation started. 

Her: "Where are you from?"

Me: "The UK, lived in the US for 12 years, now live in the Netherlands, and you?"
Her: " From Canada"
Me: "Whereabouts?"
Her: "Toronto"
Me: "Oh, one of my dearest friends lives there, in The Beaches"
Her: " Oh! I live there!"
Me: " Do you know Willow Ave?"
Her: "Yes"
Me: "My friend is called Bett Cole," 
Her: "You have got to be kidding me....I know Bett...she has two dogs?"   
Me: "OMG...this never happens....to actually know a person! Wow!"

We took the tour for awhile, until the rain grew too heavy to enjoy it and then ended up having lunch together. So I rounded off my wanderings chatting with a new acquaintance, in a warm cafe in Paris, over a bowl of steaming onion soup. What a great story to tell and one that would maybe not have happened if I had had a travel partner that day. We focus on each other and not on the people around us usually. This lady was a bonus as she was also interesting, a professional blogger who wrote about traveling solo.

www.solotravelerblog.com

Pont des Arts

I have other tales of interesting people I have met whilst traveling alone...although meeting someone who knows a dear friend is a first! There is the lovely young Siberian girl that I spent an hour with, on the train traveling to Munich, who was meeting her English boyfriend in Switzerland; the circus performer I met on a train going to London, and an Australian teacher I met on a walking tour of Munich. My husband has many such tales, being a solo traveler through his job. He has become friends with a woman from Las Vegas, who was traveling with her daughter, and who's photo he took in Paris...they remain in touch, and we are friends with someone in the Netherlands who's brother-in-law is a pilot with an American airline, alongside another friend of ours. 

Sunday was not a day full of amazing coincidences...well, I can't be greedy! But it was a day of more solo exploration, with a walk to Notre Dame where I stood and listened to the bells being rung for mass and pictured Disney's hunchback swinging from the ropes, a walk up the Seine to admire the bridges and Parisians taking their Sunday stroll in the sunshine and then a visit to the Musee d'Orsay. Again I missed a companion to share the wonder of the impressionist paintings surrounding me, but made do with a some quiet "wows." Martin joined me at the end of the day, before starting our journey home to the Netherlands, and we made time to watch the illuminations on the Eiffel Tower, surely one of the most iconic buildings in the world.

What did I take away from my weekend in Paris.....other than a baguette, memories of some delicious meals and the desire to return soon. I was reminded that the world is becoming smaller and that reaching out to the person next to you can provide a wonderful lunch companion or a long term friend. So next time someone smiles at you ( and you feel safe!) smile back...you never know where it'll take you or who you may meet!

A sparkling Eiffel Tower