At this point, I’ve seen and experienced many things. But I’m not even halfway there yet. I said it before, I want to travel the world. But it’s a blanket statement. It doesn’t say exactly what I want to do.

I want to travel the countries and keep Europe and the West probably at the bottom of my check-list but on the way to Ecuador and Peru in South America, I found out my flight was going to stop-over in Paris for a couple of days – I paused for a moment, I’ve never even thought of visiting France, I knew it was expensive and I am not that kind of traveler, also what was there to do in Paris? 

Luckily, I knew French people who were aware of my lifestyle, they gave me destinations to visit to fully experience and enjoy my short stay. I was also introduced to an app called AGODA, where they have all sorts of packages that serves the purpose of experiencing a country and their offers aren’t relatively expensive. I took a deep breath, none of my trips were ever planned anyway, with the resources I had, I was pretty sure I’d do just fine in Europe.

Once the plane landed, I went along and did my usual, I visited the Airport bathroom and freshened up for the day before I was shuttled to JO&JOE’s, the hostel that I found on AGODA app. I had a heavy breakfast that was included in the package and went to the common area filled with vibrant colors and interior designs that made the start of the day a lot brighter, literally. A round bar indoors and greenery outside made travelers like me settle in their unconventional but comfortable seatings. And while I tried to document the moment with my phone, I ran into @baderkhanamerbadran and I knew my first day in Paris was going to be a lot of fun.

First things first, a photoshoot with the Eiffel Tower. We headed towards there but was met with heavy rain in an attempt to shut down my mission. Seeing the Eiffel tower over my little self was overwhelming, as a girl who grew up in Saudi Arabia and only seen it in films, I was unfazed and tried my level best to make the photoshoot work, even bothered a lady to lend me her umbrella. But you can never defeat nature and my loss was evident in the results of the photos. 

We continued walking and I caught a glimpse of Notre Dame and was told it will be opened in 2024. It was tragic what happened to such a beautifully carved cathedral.

Drenched in rain and need to quench a thirst that had been building up, Bader and I rested at a local restaurant where I changed and casually left my wet clothes and shoes to dry. Then we went people watching at the Seine River, it was crowded, there were people everywhere, just chilling, reading books, playing the guitar, some were strolling, others rested their heads on the ground while their feet hanging on the edge of the walkway, the river that is historically known to have given birth to Paris a few meters below their feet, and we laid on a giant hammock to let everything sink in. 

I glanced at my watch and it reads 9:00 pm but the sky was still a mixture of bursting red, orange and blue. My yawn was a signal that it was probably time to make my way back to the hostel, I glanced at the Eiffel Tower, towering over the city as if to call for me, so I walked towards Quai Branly where a crowd of people was excitedly floating around kiosks. It was called the Paris Summer Market where an abundance of Creole, Greek, Spanish and Indian food was served. I didn’t eat anything though, I just floated about, watching everyone’s joyful expressions as they approach different stands.

The sun had finally settled and almost disappeared into the horizon, I was spent but as though the city hadn’t had enough of the extensive day, the lights ignited, Eiffel tower especially flashed a bright color of tungsten sparks from thousands of light bulbs and the city is alive once again as if rejuvenated. I could hear Spanish Music and found myself walking in the middle of a dance floor where people were dancing, Latin, swiftly, at the same time, gently swinging the bodies of their partners while the Eiffel towered overhead, it was as romantic as a romance scene and what’s Paris without it.

Check out things you could do while on a budget in Paris from here