Loving The World Is Easy

Friday, April 18, 2014

Loving the world is easy when you pack for Paris two days after you unpacked after Brussels.

I tried to sound normal everytime I would tell someone I was going to Paris, but I couldn't - I would just burst into squeaky voice by the end of the sentence. The first two cities I wanted to see since I was a kid were London and Paris. I got lucky with London - it was my first big travel abroad, at the age of 14. London was my favorite city in the whole wide world until I visited Shanghai in 2012 - now I'm not sure, the two of them are on top, maybe sharing the first place? But Paris never seemed to fit my plans. Or budget. But that was something I've always known for sure: one day, I'm gonna visit Paris. I don't know when, with whom, or why (but do you really need a reason anyway?!). I only know I will do it.




It was last July and the summer camp in linguistics in Petnica Science Center, where I worked as one of two heads of the linguistics seminar, was just ending. It was my last camp of being in charge - in one month's time I would leave the country. And so would two lovely friends of mine - Ivana got into her master's in Czech Republic, and Bojana in Spain. We only saw each other few times a year, but it's the funny thing about Petnica - it brings people together no matter the distance or amount of the time spent together. The sun was rising, it was early in the morning and we were still awake, because it was our last day together before we part our ways. And while we were hugging (and crying a bit, I must admit), we said "Well, see you in Paris". It sounded like a lovely idea - we have a mutual friend living there, and it's kinda in the middle of imaginary paths that connected our soon-to-be homes.

And here we were several months later - really planning our trip. Words cannot describe how excited I was. Paris. In my head it was the most romantic city in the world. Probably the most beautiful. It was a childhood dream come true. I tried to sound cool and play cool, but this irresistible feeling that I'm fulfilling the childhood dream was all around me. And for that reason it was really hard to believe that I'm actually packing for Paris. Going to the airport to fly to Paris. Boarding on the plane to Paris. Flying to Paris. And finally landing to Paris. It was just so surreal!

I pressed my nose to the window - that was even behind me, belonging to the mister sitting behind me. I had no ide where we're flying from and where the Eiffel Tower is, but I was impatient to see it. Even though I thought there was no way of seeing it - because it's something you see in the photos. It's something you know of, but it's not really real. Is it...? I didn't see it landing to Paris.



Loving the world is easy when the first thing they tell you in Paris is "Très jolie pantalon madame!" when you hop on the train at the airport. And by they I mean a tall, handsome guy in a Nice University sweatshirt. I smiled and said "Merci". And then I didn't stop smiling until I had troubles deciphering the RER C train line (such a mess!). Because hey, I'm in Paris!


A guy in a club even asked me if I was an artist - because I wore these leggings

Loving the world is easy when a lady on a train wants to talk to you in French even after you had politely said you didn't speak it. If the lady is nice - and she was. She told me I was the second person that day she met who didn't speak French, and asked me if it was my first visit, and said that it had been hot that day, and some other stuff I didn't understand. But she kept smiling. And so did I. (By the way, as for my knowledge of French, I can only say one thing - education in Serbia sucks!!! I had French in school for 4 years and always had straight A's but the only thing I'm able to do in French is order a coffee with milk, say hello, goodbye, thank you, you're welcome - where the fuck did the four years go and what did we do in classes?!)

Loving the world is easy when you meet your friends in Paris. As simple as that.


I don't like myself in this photo at all, but I LOVE Bojana and Anja's expressions :)



Loving the world is easy when you fall asleep in Paris. 

Loving the world is easy when you wake up in Paris and couple of hours later you find yourself in Louvre.



Admission to Louvre is free if you're a student in a EU country younger than 26. Otherwise it's 9 €. Museum is open every day except Tuesday. For more info take a look at the website. By the way, have you always known that there is this glass pyramid in front of Louvre, but didn't have any idea what that could be? It's the entrance to the museum. :)


Walk walk fashion baby :)
Light reading
And of course...
Oh, just Napoleon's living room
...and dining room
Bojana holding an imaginary wine glass. She looks as if she's in her natural habitat. So fancy!
I, on the other hand, look pretty much lost in the same posture

Finally the three of us:)
All that art, so tiring

I don't remember what was this funny, but I love how happy we look
High time I got myself a new wallet, this one from China is falling apart. Any ideas where I might buy one?

Loving the world is easy when you cannot help but instinctively jump and let out a scream when you see the Eiffel Tower for the first time EVER. Being there, in the same city you are, visible, not on a computer screen, not on Tumblr, not on Instagram. In. Front. Of. You.




Loving the world is easy when you walk and walk and walk through the parks and streets of Paris.


This guy is kind of a Pigeon Guy... he feeds them and plays them music and was more than happy to pose for us.
No judgement jere.
My favorite thing about Paris parks: A LOT of green metal chairs instead of benches - you can move them around!

Jean D'Arc


Loving the world is easy when you have two local guides who are also good friends of yours. (The one mentioned before is lovely Anja who's studying computer science and cognitive science in Paris - such a badass, and this winter it turned out that Milan, another friend of mine, had got a PhD position in Paris.)


Loving the world is easy when you know yours is filled with laugh and love.
The world's cutest bunny

Loving the world is easy when you're aware that the food is too expensive, but hey, you've come to Paris. The French are known for their love for good food - so when in Rome... or Paris, in this case. If necessary, you won't eat anything the whole next month. Or go anywhere.



I went to Ladurée and had macarons for the first time in my life, even though now it's even possible to eat them in Belgrade or anywhere else. But I wanted my first time to be the real thing. And it was - the macarons are wonderful. However, I don't think they're really worth the money (1.9 € each, but it's still much less than, for example, those at Angelina - 5.9 € each!). I guess it's like with the high fashion brands. 

Ladurée checked, Vogue FR checked, ELLE FR checked



Loving the world is easy when you go out in Paris. (I had no idea the city is so full of hipsters, but apparently hipsters are everywhere. This was a very hipster place, and we loved it. It's a bar, and a club, and a gallery, and stuff... located on the Canal St. Martin. 

Loving the world is easier when you fall asleep in Paris, again.

If you want to see us chasing the Eiffel Tower, stop by this week again. Thank you for your visit - I appreciate every single click and I hope you like my posts. Hugs! Tihana

Photo Credits. This time the majority of photos were made by Ivana - and that's unfortunately why she is in so little of them. Next time we travel together I'm gonna make sure I get a lot of snaps of her!

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