Two months ago I posted about a decision to travel solo to Paris for Blogshop. I felt crazy and scared and excited. Mostly crazy. I mean, who does that?

Upon arriving in Paris last Friday morning, after a 10 hour flight where I had 2 seats all to myself, I felt lucky and exhilarated and still a little crazy. I was in Paris, a place I've always felt weirdly at home.

I met my car driver (definitely splurge and hire a car when arriving in Paris via plane, those taxi lines are horrendous) and got to my hotel. I was pleasantly surprised by the hotel. I booked this hotel near the Republique on a bit of a whim just so I'd quit obsessing over where I would stay back in August. The reviews weren't great, but I realized immediately upon arriving that it was probably mostly because most of the bad reviewers were more used to a Hampton Inn than a Parisian hotel room. It suited me perfectly.

It was perfectly pleasant, with a room larger than most Parisian hotel rooms, and even an unexpected elevator that kept me from carrying all my luggage up 5 flights of stairs. The room had a beautiful view (above), a balcony, was less than 50 feet from a metro station, and about 20 feet from a fabulous café. More on that later. 

I cleaned up in the hotel and went for a walk, picking up a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) and chocolate beignet across the street from the hotel. I caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower - of course - where I spent the next few hours lounging on the Champs de Mars, strolling down the Seine and snapping more photos than is probably sane.

I hopped on a river boat from Bateaux Mouches around 6:30 and spent the next hour and a half seeing the city from the river. It was so cold, but so beautiful. Sunset on the Seine was fantastic.

Strolling around Paris that evening, I was so overwhelmed: culture shock, being away from home, being alone. I'm not going to lie and say that I was completely comfortable. I maybe have an hour a week when I'm actually completely alone, if that. The prospect of being alone for the next 5 days felt daunting, and the fact that I was 5,000 miles from home wasn't helping a lot.

I went to the hotel before dark without stopping for dinner. I had an early morning the next day and I kind of just wanted to go to bed. I hoped the next day would find me more comfortable.