The trip is the best thing in the world. It helps you to see lots of places, cultures, people, etc.
I really love
trips and I was on lots of them. However, one trip was the best. Actually, I repeated that trip several times
but every time that city is more and more beautiful. You can´t guess which city I am talking about, can
you? I am talking about Paris, the city of love and light.
My first visit to Paris was a remarkable experience, which I will never forget. I drove by bus from
Sarajevo to Paris. It was a great feeling to arrive in Paris and see the city of light – a modern city with a
very deep sense of history. I will never forget when I first drove through, passing the canals and seeing
the monuments. It was like a huge open-air museum. It was love at first sight.
It was dark in the evening, lights were illuminating the whole city. It was bright, almost like daytime. The
streets were very busy, full of shoppers marching from one shop to another. I was fascinated seeing The
Palais Garnier, which is the Paris Opera House. My hotel was street nearby. When I reached the main
road, there was an underground station with a big, lit-up sign displaying the word ‘Métropolitain’. I did
not make note of the road name, as I thought that the name of the station would be sufficient for finding
my hotel again. I visited the Opera house and walked towards Place de la Concorde. Then I walked back
to find my hotel. I located what looked like exactly the same ‘Métropolitain’ sign that I had noted in my
head, but it was not the right street.
I became anxious and confused. I approached people who were passing by. Some just ignored me. I told a
French man in English that we were looking for ‘Métropolitain’ station. He pointed towards the station. I
approached the woman behind the counter and asked her the same question. She was laughing at me and
said something in French. Then she continued in poor English, “All … Métropolitain.”
I finally realised my mistake and understood that the ‘Métropolitain’ sign was the symbol for all metro
stations in Paris, not the name of one station! This was just the beginning of my nightmare. How was I
going to find the hotel? It took me nearly over two hours walking through many streets that all looked the
same. I wondered whether to call the police. It was a miracle that I finally managed to find my hotel.
It was late in the evening and I was hungry. I decided to eat in a recommended Lebanese restaurant in a
street very close to the Champs-Élysées. I sit near window, so that I could watch street easily. Suddenly I
saw a car at the top of the road shaking back and front. It was stationary, but was moving up and down.
After a minute or so, I saw the car in the front come out and leave. The waiter saw my astonishment and
said, ”The cars in Paris are parked bumper to bumper – it’s difficult to park, and impossible to leave.”
I was staying in Épinay-sur-Seine in the north of Paris, 11.3 km from the city centre. The next morning, I
walked around the small town. It was sunday and all the shops were closed. I were happy with my hotel,
but i decided to check the prices of other local hotels. I saw a very nice building marked ‘Hotel de Ville’.
I approached the building, but the door was closed. After a few minutes a man opened a window. I asked
him about the prices but he only shouted something in French and closed the window.
When I was in the centre of Paris, I saw another Hotel de Ville. It was a magnificent large building that
looked like a palace. I suggested to myself that it was possibly a five-star branch of the same hotel. It was
only when I visited the tourist office to get directions to various sightseeing places that I found out the
Hotel de Ville is actually the city’s municipal office!
I stayed in Paris for ten days and I had a fantastic time. I loved everything about this romantic city and
vowed to never hesitate to come back to experience it again and again. But I promised myself that I
would learn the language!
