Reflection: Visiting Paris During Autumn
As the crisp air rippled through my hair and sent chills flying down my arms, I took a deep breath of the autumn air and scanned the cream-colored buildings circling around me. The buzzing motorcycles whizzed by my ears as the freshly fallen almond and copper tinted leaves crunched below my feet. In the distance, you can slightly make out the sound of elderly French men, dressed to the nines and sporting flat caps, murmuring over their chess games, smiling seemingly proudly when executing a proper move. The all-famous Eiffel Tower looms in the distance, whispering, beckoning me to follow.
The bleached white buildings set a plain background, highlighting the dazzling crimson leaves swaying in the winds, dangling towards the grass. Sure, nothing is really green, and the flowers are withering away into meaningless shreds rather than blossoming for the first time, but the pleasantly warm shades of amber and cinnamon that fill your line of vision whirl you away to a promise of eternal autumn that we all so desperately clutch onto every year.
That endless sense of the sharp briskness, warped into a mix of toasty sunshine that mingle in the air throughout the days is the ideal temperature that reminds us of grasping onto mugs sloshing full of hot chocolate and rosy red cheeks aching for the indoors. Now switch out the hot chocolate for a creamy crepe, and then you’ll find yourself enjoying an ideal weekend in Paris.
I was told on numerous occasions that I was silly for going to Paris in the fall. “Go in the spring, it’s so much prettier!” “The trees bloom when it’s warmer it’ll be a lot nicer then.” Well guess what people, I went during autumn, and no, it wasn’t pretty, it was spectacular. It’s not the weather that transforms Paris into such a desirable location, it’s the experience and adventures you have there that determine your affection for this massive city.
Regardless of when you actually decide to go, Paris will stun you in ways your mind can’t even understand. There’s plenty of things to do, places to see, people to meet, and bucket list items to be checked off, so there’s no reason why you should be leaving all of those things to be done at peak tourist visitation times (spring and summer), but rather go when it’s not as crowded, certainly not as busy, and 100% more enjoyable.
I was told that going in the fall was dumb. I was strictly warned that I would be underwhelmed by so many things. I was terrified that this city wouldn’t live up to any expectations I may have set for it because of what everyone began telling me. I personally didn’t even want to visit Paris after having heard so many negative things. What I’ve learned from this entire experience is to not listen to other people. To go with your gut. To trust in yourself and instinctively go wherever it is you want to go. Because in the end, it’s your memories that you’re permanently etching into your brain, no one else’s, so do whatever the hell it is you want to do, because your life is too short to be experiencing the world second-hand anyway.
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