I had spent long and never ending months waiting for this very day. I started my countdown in the bitter cold month of January and it was finally here. On this very day, of June 8th in the year of 2012, I was finally going to Paris, France. It has been my dream to walk on that foreign land since I was very young. I had all these extremely high hopes for what it would be like, standing on top of the Eiffel, admiring the city of lights, or delicately scarfing down a baguette in one the many beautiful parks there or even finding a quick romance with a French boy whose accent makes my knees weak and fills my stomach with millions of fluttering butterflies. There was so much to look forward to that at times I could hardly breathe from the excitement, though what I looked forward to most was the Eiffel Tower. Even though I have immense love for this trip, there were a few concerns but just very little ones, so I told myself. My three main concerns were the long flight there, the time difference, and getting lost to only then be getting attacked by some wacked out French person. To me though I didn’t want these concerns to ruin my excitement so of course they were always stashed in the back of my mind, peeping out on me every once and a while. I looked myself over in my long and white wooded mirror with delicate rose carvings at the top and smiled. My hair was perfectly curled, each curl full of life and in its place. I then looked at my outfit. My pants, a pinkish peach color, a white top and the best part, an peach and pink scarf with a flower pattern. A scarf, a Parisian fashion statement. My earrings dangled in my ears and to top off the whole look, my Eiffel Tower charm bracelet. I dangled in front of my face, its shine bouncing off the mirror and envisioned myself on top of the Eiffel Tower. I was ready to go. I never imagined or thought about how stressful an international flight may be, until I experienced it. Our flight from Chicago to Newark, New Jersey was late, so that sent us in a rush to check our bags and run to our departure area. I only had time to scarf down a small McDonalds fries, since I knew we would be getting a meal on the flight. I was beginning to become worn out, but that didn’t damper my excitement, I was just simply ready for a nap. My sister Megan tended to be grouchier, she was excited as well, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she crashed when her bottom immediately hit the air plane seat. Truth be told, we all needed sleep, I could tell by the large dark circles sagging from every one’s eyes. This was going to be the long flight, the 8 hour flight. I was secretly freaking out inside but how else am I going to get to Paris! I figured if I slept most of the way, it wouldn’t be so bad. When we got on the plane and found our seats, there was a blanket and a pillow on each seat along with a mini TV to watch movies, TV shows, and listen to music. I took my seat, adjusted my seat belt, and told myself to relax. I was becoming more and more tired and found it extremely hard to stay awake. Once we were past take off, I said good bye to the States and hello to the next long 8 hours that would lead my family and me to Paris, France. With sleeping most of the way, watching many movies such as The Vow and This Means War, and eating a delicious dinner plus a snack once we were almost there, the flight was very good, enjoyable actually. Looking out my window when we hit France territory, I expected to be greeted by seeing the Eiffel Tower, casting itself proudly in the clear blue sky. Instead I saw very clean land. Squares of fresh fields and green grass, it was beautiful. For the first time, I felt odd, a feeling I can’t describe, something close to awe. The airport we landed in was about an hour away from Paris so we would have to take a quick train ride. Entering the airport was shockingly frightening and considering I was jet lagged it gave me anxiety. There were numerous French guards, standing with their chest up and their beety eyes scanning everywhere and a gun properly placed in their hands. All my ears could hear was a bunch of people blabbing French gibberish to one another. I definitely felt out of place, but oh well I was in Paris, France so I brushed it off. We were lucky to have English speakers help us and get us on our way to the city of lights. Our train ride felt long; maybe it was me being anxious to see the Eiffel Tower. It was so different from the United States. Everything was so close together and written mostly in French, but most of all it was all so uniquely beautiful. My eyes kept searching and searching for the Eiffel Tower, but it was not insight! I could tell we were getting closer to the city because the buildings were becoming more like what I have seen in pictures. I was literally almost bouncing out of my seat with excitement. I really could not believe I was here; it was extremely hard to fathom. I could tell everyone was tired but it was only 10 a.m. and we couldn’t waist our first day in Paris sleeping! Once we arrived at the Paris Nord train station, we were greeting with a rush of Parisians, running around getting to where they needed to be. People just in general looked different there. The girls hardly did anything with their hair and wore little to no makeup, which in my opinion some needed a little life to their face and hair. The guys were extremely stylish and oh so cute! The guys tended to wear more suits, scarfs, and thin sweaters with their hair styled with gel. After we arrived we tried our best to receive a taxi but had to ask for English help and then received one very quickly. The taxi ride was very awkward. First off, he could barely speak enough English to hold a conversation and the radio station was all in French even the music. It was very interesting to hear French rap. Another thing I noticed is they advertise a lot of American stuff on the radio such as singers, and they also advertise American movies on poster ads such as the movie Snow white and the Huntsman. I also encountered a French teen girl singing the Katy Perry song, Fireworks, in English, which was pretty cool considering she was blabbing in French to her friend just a minute ago. Our first tour we were going on was the Eiffel Tower tour with Fat Tire bikes; we got up the Eiffel within minutes while those unfortunate people waiting in line would not be able to see the breath taking view of Paris from above within 3 to 4 hours, what a bummer. The elevator on the way to the top was cramped; you could barely move each shoulder, yet I was videotaping our entire journey going up and up till we arrived at our destination. I wasn’t really bothered by heights but I knew my dad was, but he seemed fine. Everyone seemed a little stunned or anxious. The Eiffel was awesome, it was made of steel and they told us if you melted it all, it would be extremely light and cover up not as much space as you would think. I could feel us getting higher and higher, my stomach a flipping and a flopping, until the elevator dinged and swiftly opened to let us out. I whispered a quiet Merci to the elevator man and walked with a skip in my step, ready to see what this City of Lights was really all about and ready to experience this moment I had so long dreamed for. I was in awe, about 7 minutes past without anyone saying a single word, my eyes were fixated on the beauty in front of me. It beat anything I had ever seen before. I could see the Arc de Triumph, The Sac recur, Notre Dame, Seine River, everything, I could see everything. It was my dream to be standing here, and now I am. It is a magical experience. After about a billion pictures taken every which way and gawking at the beautiful site, we decided to take a chance and go all the way to the top. Oh dear I was extremely unsure of this, more unsure than my dad and he is the one who’s afraid of heights. I told myself you will probably only have this opportunity once, you have to do it, so we went on up. I could feel us slightly swaying, my stomach swaying with the giant beautiful beast. My heart was hammering in my chest, my palms painted with a light mist of sweat and my eyes, avoiding looking down. But when my eyes caught the view, the lights all lighten up now casting a magnificent glow on all the buildings and streets, all of my panic disappeared and there was no way my eyes were going to look down now and miss a single second of this sight. All that was left was this moment and myself. I truly knew now what they meant by City of Lights, the city was completely alive now and its beauty surging through the streets, lights, and its people. I felt like the luckiest girl on this massive planet and knew this was worth waiting for all those incredibly extensive months. I felt like I was on top of the world…okay on top of the Eiffel Tower, but I knew now that it was the same feelings anyways. Overall Paris taught me that the world is so large and full of numerous opportunities and beautiful things that I want to see more. I want to see what all the this unique world has to offer.