Have you ever been somewhere as a child, following your parents around, and not really taking it all in? All of your focus going into putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to trip over or drop your ice cream. Have you ever been somewhere really beautiful or exciting as a child and not really noticed the beauty because you were easily distracted by toys in windows and getting thirsty and tired? Well, this is what happened with me and Paris.
I was incredibly lucky to have had the chance to go as a child. I was taken to see Michael Jackson in concert as me and my Mum were both huge fans, and I mean huge! All I listened to throughout most of my childhood were his albums and my bedroom was just covered in posters of him, it was the real deal. My Mum collected lots of Michael Jackson merchandise in the 90’s, did a bit of a tour of Europe to see his History Tour where she met a few fellow MJ fans along the way!
Image by Lost Child’s Gallery
I was taken to the concert in Paris when I was 10 years old I don’t actually remember anything much about Paris itself – no signature buildings or the river. It’s little snippets of memories I have – such as being sat in an underground tube station right underneath a giant Michael Jackson poster. Michael was so huge all over the world at that time and I feel really privileged that I got to be involved in the buzz because now, that will never happen again, it’s a thing of the past as Michael is no longer with us and we’ll never get that buzz back.
I can vaguely remember being on the ferry to Paris and once we arrived, going into various newsagents in Paris looking for magazines with Michael in. Apparently we went to the Eiffel Tower (not actually up it) but I can’t remember a single thing about that. I find it really surprising that I don’t remember such a monumental building!
Image by Lost Child’s Gallery
I recall the concert starting, I’ll never forget that momentous moment – it all going dark and being aware that Michael was to come on stage at any moment. I remember feeling very emotional and in my childlike way, getting quite teary. I guess when your childhood idol is in the same vicinity of you, it’s hard to control yourself! It was so surreal and the energy in the room was incredible – now that is something I’ll always remember. However, I don’t remember any of the actual performance, just the energy of the room in general and the way it made me feel. (He He He. Sorry, I just had to.)
When the concert was over, I recall dying for us to get back to our hotel so I could go to the loo – I hadn’t been during the whole concert and finding toilets in the arena was challenging. We got lost so it took a lot longer. Argh! But, I vaguely remember getting back to the hotel and getting excited and ready for the next day – Disneyland! It is so funny the things children focus on – even though I was a raging MJ fan, I actually remember much more of Disneyland than I do of the concert.
Image by Epcot Boy
Disneyland is a treasured memory of mine. I went on roller coasters for the first time – Space mountain and Thunder Mountain. I don’t remember being too scared, which is surprising. I guess you don’t know what to expect when you’ve never done something before – I am terrified of roller coasters now! We looked all around the park and I was convinced that Michael would be there as I knew he loved Disney, I remember looking around for him the whole day, hoping that if we saw him, he might talk to me . Obviously that didn’t happen.
That night we saw the fireworks and parade where all the Disney characters perform for the audience. It was magical and as it’s still quite a vague memory, I would love to go back to Disneyland to see it all again, it’s such a magical place, like no other. You’re never too old for Disneyland!
So that was my first trip to Paris. Fast forward 19 years (June 2015) and Paris welcomes a now 29 year old me into it’s vibrant city! I was convinced that I’d recognise something from when I’d been before. I thought the Eiffel Tower in all it’s glory would jog some long lost memories that it turns out I had remembered all along, I just needed a jump start.
But, no. It was as if I’d never been before, all I recognised were landmarks I had seen pictures of and drooled over in the months leading up to our trip – a sparkling Seine, fantastical fountains, the gargantuan Louvre and its pyramids. I’d watched films set in Paris – La Weekend, 2 Days in Paris, Je t’aime Paris, listened to music referencing Paris – Emilie Simon, Camille, Indila and I’d been learning French for a few months – I already felt I had a relationship with the city and wasn’t disappointed.
The myriad of parks are one of my favourite parts of Paris. All these peaceful places to escape to is a very special part of the city and we happily explored a few of them. They all have very differing personalities; Jardin des Tuileries, Jardin de Luxembourg, Places des Vosges, Jardin des Champs-Élysées, Champ de Mars. Restful places to find peace. The locals sit on benches and knit, read, watch the cascading fountains with looks of contentedness. Couples walk arm in arm, slowly strolling and enjoying the moment.
We stayed in a really cool and quirky area of Paris. Despite reading bad reviews online of both our hotel and the surrounding area, we loved it! It was called Appi Hotel and was situated on Rue St Denis which is home to several sex shops and peep shows. The majority of people on Trip Advisor strongly advised against staying at this hotel branding it ‘seedy.’
However, our impression of it was quite different. The building was full of character, the staff were really friendly and jolly and the area didn’t solely offer adult entertainment -there was a range of quirky bars, restaurants, cafés and bakeries and I would go as far as to recommend the area and the hotel, at least to people that wanted somewhere cheap and basic to stay. It had bags of personality and conveyed another side of Paris, not just the Paris of tourist books and sites.
We generally just explored the city during our visit – mainly on foot as we prefer that to spending time in the tube stations figuring out which train we need. We had chance to see and do a lot and soak up corners of Paris that we may have missed had we used the public transport.
We tried snails, visited the Sacre Coeur, Pigalle, explored The Louvre and spontaneously visited another museum called Musée Carnavalet which was all about the history of Paris – very informative, free entry and accompanied by beautiful gardens.
We had a fantastic time and I can see why people fall in love with Paris, it is a very unique and vibrant city with so much going on, all sorts of different people and fantastic food. It is not perfect as no place is, we came across people sleeping on mattresses on the streets and the busy traffic causes a lot of pollution.
My two experiences of Paris could not have been more different to each other. It was quite surreal walking around the city knowing that I had been before and any streets I walked down – the thought that I may have walked down them before, during a very different time of my life. It felt strange that I couldn’t remember the city, as if someone had erased my memory.
Have you ever revisited a place you went to as a child?
Let me know all about it in the comments below!
