The City of Light

Paris is a wondrous city, known as the City of Light, due to it leading role in the Age of Enlightenment. I’ve been to Paris twice in my life, both times with my friend Sean. Our first trip was summer after our senior year of high school, the second was our junior year of college, Sean was studying abroad in Madrid, I was in Rome.

Before that first trip to Paris I had never been to Europe and now I plan on going back as often as possible. That first day we did all the typical tourist spots; my favorite will always be Notre Dame. The following day we visited the opulence that is Versailles, walking through the gardens is like being transported to a different world. That summer we managed to be in Paris for Bastille Day, France’s version of 4^th of July, so we watched the parade and went to the top of Montmartre to see the fireworks.

That first trip to Paris definitely warranted another trip when we returned to Europe. We met in Paris with a few other friends in November of 2014. Being the Disney fanatic that I am, we decided on a trip to Euro Disney was in order. The park was near empty and decorated for Christmas, it was a magical experience. That night we went on a river tour of Pari
s, watching the Eiffel Tower glitter on the hour. After the tour was over we sat underneath the Eiffel Tower eating crepes and drinking champagne.

The next day, early in the morning, we climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower, although visibility wasn’t great, being up that high was incredible. After, we explored the Louvre, which we all agreed we easily could have spent another full week discovering. The next stop was the lovelock bridge in Paris, which easily might be my favorite spot in the city. Seeing how many couples have visited the spot and locked their love onto the bridge is inspiring. The four of us locked our friendship onto that bridge and promised we would all return to Paris together in the future.

It was all started by a Mouse

Travel has been apart of my life since long before I can remember. In my childhood, travel coincided with one place, Disney World. My first trip to Disney took place when I was just nine months old and since then I’ve been to the most magical place on Earth over thirty times.

Although we went multiple times a year and eventually my mother and brother got sick of going there and requested we vacationed elsewhere, the magic never died for me. Even though I understood the logistics behind the magic, but the sight of those younger than me experiencing what I loved for the first time made Disney still a memorable experience for me.

One of my favorite parts about Disney vacations is that no two vacations are ever the same, even though they take place in the same location, with the same attractions. Up until I was eighteen, the trips consisted of various members of my family, whether it be my brother, parents, and I, or my brother and I with our grandparents. Senior year of high school, our class trip was to Disney. There is no better Disney experience than visiting with over fifty of your closest friends.

I enjoyed that trip with my high school friends to my favorite place so much that I decided to spend my senior year of college fall break in Disney with three close friends. That trip to Disney was my first without parents or adult chaperones, and we had a blast.

Not only does the Disney experience change with people, but also time of year. I’ve been to Disney every season, as well as for Halloween and Christmas. Disney at holidays is fantastic, all of the parks are completely decked out for that specific holiday, Halloween there are giant jack-o-lanterns, Christmas means Christmas trees everywhere.

Disney does entertainment extremely well; the messages they portray resonate long after the movie is over. They tell stories that stress the importance of hope, family, and chasing your dreams. I enjoy the park because it shows Walt Disney’s dream come to life. He started with nothing and created an empire. Disney best described his dream with the quote, “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.”