I have always dreamed of traveling the world, but I neglected this dream for so long, and my first flight trip outside my country was on March 30th, 2018.
I'm going to dedicate my next few posts to my traveling experience abroad. I miss traveling so much and for this reason, I'm going to share details of my travels, hoping to be able to safely travel soon.
My first trip abroad was to Paris. I love France, I have wanted to visit this country since I was a child. I'm fascinated by their culture, art and history.
The main goal of my trip and what encouraged me to solo travel was to attend Harry Styles concert. I had a ticket for his Bologna show but I wanted the first country to visit to be France, I hope I can return to it soon.
One of my happiest moments was getting my visa to visit Europe. I felt like on top of the world.
I was so excited to the point that I forgot any fear of traveling alone.
In my society, a female traveling alone outside her country is something that could raise a few eyebrows, but my family is always supportive of me and my decisions.
I was so thrilled when I reached Cairo airport, I got a bit overwhelmed with the travel measures but all the employees were so friendly and understood my anxiety.
I was in the airport three hours before my flight and I had this incredible energy. I was keeping safe and following all the tips that I read online about female solo travel.
The moment that I got to the plane was thrilling, I had a big smile on my face, I sat in my window seat and I had a gentleman next to, he was quiet and that was perfect for me.
I hadn't slept for one second, I was enjoying this experience, and feeling grateful.
We landed safely and I couldn't believe myself, I'm in France.
My bags arrived a bit late and luckily my shuttle waited for me, the driver was very friendly, his brother is working in Sharm Elsheikh.
We had a lovely conversation, the shuttle service was by AMITOURS Paris.
I was so cold it was about 7 degrees. It's cold for me.
There were a couple with me in the shuttle, they were excited as well.
We reached the hotel, Hotel ibis Paris Gare de Lyon Reuilly, it was around 5 pm.
I checked in and signed into the wifi in my room and called my mom. She was worried, but when she knew I was safe, she felt so proud of me.
I hadn't planned anything because it felt so unreal. So I only walked around the hotel on the first day and got a bit familiar with public transportation around it.
The hotel was amazing, metro stations and Carrefour were near it. I bought snacks from it because I didn't want to spend a lot of money on restaurants.
The next day (the second day of my visit) I woke up super early, and enjoyed my first breakfast in Europe. Then I headed to the Eiffel Tower.
Navigating Paris was a bit difficult for me, it's my first trip abroad, I'm alone in a continent where I know no one in. I got lost at first but a sweet lady who works at the metro station, helped me and gave me directions.
I arrived at the Eiffel Tower and I had to wait for almost three hours to get inside. I had no previous bookings but I was overjoyed and marveled at every detail.
The tower was worth the wait, and after it I went to Champ de Mars, and enjoyed a walk next to River Seine (it was magical) I also visited a few bridges and then headed back to the hotel.
On the next days of my visit I went to Champs-Élysées Garden then Champs-Élysées street, Of course I didn't do any shopping but I was mesmerized by everything in it.
I also visited Arc de Triomphe and saw the Palace of Versailles from outside and Rmn-Grand Palais.
I really loved Domaine National du Palais-Royal, Luxembourg Gardens, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris and Louvre Museum.
Then I had to get ready to go to Bologna and I will talk about it in my next post :)
I know my trip was super short and so many places left unseen, I hope I can travel again and the world goes back to normal. Take a look at the mini gallery of the pictures that I took in Paris!
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