I’m not sure if there is a word or phrase to describe that feeling of waking up after a long flight. Houston to Paris is a straight 9 hours. We boarded the flight around 7pm, and by 8ish, we had departed. I don’t know if it was the anxiety or the exhaustion of working non-stop, but I slept the whole flight. Seriously. I woke up about forty minutes before we landed in Paris. It was incredible. It was also a nice surprise to wake up to my breakfast already on the tray in front of me. I felt like a queen.
The one thing I always mentally block about Charles du Gaulle airport is the size. It’s a giant maze just to get off the plane. It took almost thirty minutes to find the closest restroom. After going through customs, the airport was pretty chill. It took a minute to find the train that goes into the city, but I asked around for help in my broken French, and was eventually led to the right exit. Another forty minutes of sitting and stretching simultaneously while the train made its way to my stop in the 6th Arrondissement. I went to my hotel to check in my bag. The lady at the desk was so nice, which surprised me. At best, they are indifferent to tourists, but I knew this was a good sign for my trip. She let me use the restroom so I can change into fresh clothes, and let me know I can come back to check in after 3 pm.
I made my way to the metro. I enjoy taking public transportation when I travel abroad. Since I can read French better than I can speak it, I had no trouble getting around for the day. I chose to arrive in Paris a day early so I can do some exploring on my own before meeting up with the group. It was great. Walking through les Jardins de Tuileries, seeing the Louvre, people watching as I walk through the streets. Almost immediately it’s as if time slowed down. I even got emotional seeing the newly restored Notre Dame. Eventually I made my way over to Les Galeries Lafayette and the Printemps for some shopping. I found some great holiday pieces and ate through most of the boulangeries and patisseries.
On Saturday, I woke up and enjoyed a slow morning. I walked around the 6th Arrondissement (my favorite) and considered moving there for about an hour. Once I realized I would need to heavily improve my French, the feeling passed. Humbled by the lady at the boulangerie is more than anyone can take. One of my last stops before checking out was visiting some local boutiques, and I found my new favorite store. I almost walked out until I saw this gorgeous black and gold leopard print dress. Mine. And then it was.
As I left the hotel to Uber to the other hotel, I suddenly felt nervous. I’m about to meet everyone. I could feel a knot slowly form in my stomach. Luckily, the other hotel was only about ten minutes away, so I knew that no matter what I felt, I was about to get hit head on.
I arrived and like any other hotel lobby, there were people checking in, guests hanging out in the lobby, and some guests were looking for the water fountain. At that moment I pulled out my foldable water bottle and joined them. I would later find out these ladies are part of my group. Off to a great start. I check in under the group. As they’re handing me my key card, the tour guide introduces himself. The lobby is filling up, and told everyone to meet down there within the hour. Great. I had some time to freshen up.
After a ride up in the elevator I get to my room. I’m cautious as I open the door, since I don’t know at this point if my roommate got there ahead of me. I walk in. The lights are off and it’s empty. Huge sigh of relief. I have a few minutes to be myself before I head out to meet everyone. I proceeded to change and add touch up my makeup. I definitely felt put together. I grab my one-shoulder bag and phone and I take a long inhale in as I walk up to the door. I exhale and close the door behind. Here we go.
Downstairs, I sit down in the lobby where I notice other guests are beginning to pile in. I just smile and look at the floor. I’m trying to look friendly, but not so much that they think I’m a psycho. Suddenly, one of the ladies in the group just introduced herself and you could genuinely feel a collective relief from everyone waiting, myself included. Everyone went around introducing themselves, very similar to the first day of school. At first I was uneasy. So many of them were still in the 18-24 age range. I didn’t think I would get along with any of them. Then as the introductions continued, there were a handful that were in my age range. I continued to do my deep breathing. I couldn’t believe that I was so worried.
The tour guide enters the room and asks us to step in the cafeteria where we would all be meeting. We walk into the empty space and we all sit down randomly. I’m so thankful for this now. Little did I know that the two people I was sitting next to would become like my real international friends. The room quickly filled up and I counted 26, including the guide. This is good. Not too big, not too small. The guide gives a full introduction, we go around introducing ourselves again, and we go over guidelines, tour expectations and more. So, just like school, but you know, we paid for it.
After completing all the waivers, we make our way outside to meet the bus driver and the bus. I didn’t know Mercedes Benz made buses. Already I knew this was going to be fun. We drove around Paris, and watched the driver go through the craziest roundabout in the world. It was impressive. We took a quick detour to see the sparkling Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero before heading over to do our boat tour. I’ve been to Paris before and I felt too cool for the boat tour down la Seine. Once on the boat, I felt completely stupid. While it may be a touristy thing to do, it was one of my favorite memories. It was freezing cold, it began raining, but we all agreed we would do it again. At this point, I felt so relieved. I found my people.
The next morning, I woke up with my new roommate. She was super cool. Very communicative. We discussed the room organization, noise volume preference (ahem), and a bit about ourselves. I knew then that I would survive this trip. The rest of the weekend in Paris was great. We did a private tour of a perfume factory. We walked around the afternoon enjoying the non-tourist neighborhoods of Paris. I ate the biggest savory crepe of my life. We finished our weekend having dinner and a show at le Moulin Rouge. While I’m not sure I would do it again, it was a fun experience.
As the week went on, our bus took us to the small towns throughout France to visit the holiday markets. One of our stops was at the Chateau de Chenonceau. I had never been inside a castle before, so it was a unique experience. Our group spent the night in the town of Tours. Like every small town in France, it looks like it's from a storybook. Historic and beautiful buildings everywhere. We made our way over the Village Gourmand, which is where all the food vendors were located. The holiday decorations brought joy to all of us. Smiles from ear to ear. The best part was the food. I couldn’t even begin to describe all the smells other than debilitating. I had the hardest time figuring out what I wanted to eat. A lot of us ended up getting the Rilletes de Tour, which is a sandwich made with fresh baked bread and juicy pulled pork. I still dream of it sometimes.
The next day we ended up in the town of Dijon. Yes, that dijon. As in dijon mustard. This was an education for everyone. Proper dijon mustard tastes so much better than whatever it is in the bottles we have back home. Getting to do a taste test at one of the local shops is a must for anyone who visits. The town is gorgeous, and as you walk around you’ll see these tiny little owls everywhere. The town of Dijon has a mascot, and you will see it in all forms throughout. We ended the evening with a tour of the tower, and after painstakingly walking up 300 plus stairs, we made it to the top with some of the most gorgeous sunset views I had seen.
Wednesday was the day our whole tour group was super excited for. We spent the morning in Colmar, the town that inspired the classic, Beauty and the Beast. I think I drove everyone crazy singing and humming the soundtrack the whole time we were there, but I couldn’t help it. It was out of a fairy tale. The buildings look just as what you would think they would. The Christmas market was fun and felt like a carnival. The muenster cheese pretzel was the best. That evening we made it to Strasbourg. This market dates back to the early 1500s. This is where we hit our sweet spot. We did a tour with a local and got to see many of the buildings and enjoy some of the local delicacies. We finally made our way over to the big market and I cried. The size alone is so impressive. At this point in the trip, we were all more open and shared our favorite holiday stories. Truly a magical night.
On Thursday, our last full day, we spent the first half in Epernay, the capital of the Champagne region. We are all ready for that champagne tour. Other than a few of the group members, I don’t think many of us realized the amount of work it takes to make champagne. Naturally, our favorite part was doing the taste test at the end. If only school was like this, we would all have paid more attention. We ended our evening at a lovely restaurant in Reims. After a three-course meal we enjoyed a leisurely stroll throughout the town and just absorbed all the holiday beauty. It was such a great way to properly end our trip.
As we were driving to the airport in Paris on Friday, I slept. I mostly slept on the bus every time we were on it. This time though, I was mostly awake and I do recall feeling incredibly grateful and sad at the same time. It’s almost silly now looking back, but I couldn’t believe how worried I was about this trip. Panicking over everything as if I had control over it. While the trip wasn’t perfect, it was exactly what I needed. I was worried about being too old (which I was, but that’s not the point). Worried that I wouldn’t get along with anyone. Worried that I couldn’t be myself, that I would be too much.
It turns out being myself was just enough. I discovered that for over half the group, this was their first group tour too. Despite the age differences, they all shared similar anxieties and fears. One of many things we found we had in common is our curiosity and our longing to travel the world. To learn, to see new places and meet new people. While I can’t guarantee I would do another tour group again so soon, I would recommend it to anyone who was looking to overcome this fear like myself. Was I crazy to sign up for a group tour at 35? Maybe a little. Was it worth it? Absolutely.