If someone asked me what I thought the best time to visit the city of love would be, I would have to say Valentines Day- for the weekend! The perfect time- all the lovers come out, kissing on the corners of the Parisian streets, venturing to the top of the Eiffel tower, scouring the markets with a croissant in hand early Saturday morning, oh- and an afternoon visit to the Lourve of course! And maybe a Paris by night tour followed by the cabaret.
Yes- the ultimate occasion! And I experienced it– bit it went a little bit differently, or rather who I went with was a little bit different. This year for the Valentines weekend I got to visit Paris with my 2 best girl friends Neelam and Bek- two Australian girls I met whilst on Exchange in London for 6 months. That’s right- no boyfriend in hand. Just me and my besties, and it was the loveliest occasion!
If anyone asked if you wanted to visit Paris on Valentines day without a boyfriend- it could potentially be the worst. No matter how wonderful the city itself is, no one wants to feel lonely surrounded by hundreds of loved up, kissing, tangled up sappy couples. But this experience got me thinking- is it worse for me or for the single ladies? (My boyfriend was in Sydney at the time)
I think the question is: Is it harder realizing I don’t have this or I do have this, but he’s not here right now?
I think that sometimes in those moments it can be harder when you are the one with the boyfriend. Because you look around and see all the other happy couples and you realize just how much you miss their company. In that moment you would do anything to just be able to hold their hand or just be near them for even a minute.
Going the distance can be hard but sometimes its for the better. Sometimes you need to let the one you love go temporarily so that they can chase their dreams and come back for the better. Well that was my circumstance anyway. I had always wanted to experience living in Europe, and a 18 year long dream wasn’t going to be cancelled because of a 6 month relationship. But I wasn’t ready to finish the relationship either– it was just the start of a wonderful adventure! Lucky me I had an amazing boyfriend who was willing to let me chase my dream even if it meant I would be on the other side of the world from him- London.
A lot of people asked me before whether we would stay together- and my answer was always Of course! Who ever said you can’t have the best of both? Sure it was a lot harder but we learnt a lot, grew a lot more and are now so much better off for it! Sure I had to face the music when I was in Paris alone amidst all the couples (I probably wouldn’t have stayed much longer by myself) but I still loved every second I had there with my girls. How can a sparkling Eiffel tower ever not put a smile on my face?
I think too often people are scared to try something new, or embrace their passions when they fall into a relationship. They get comfortable and anything that could possibly disrupt their rhythm must be wrong, right? But I have always believed that you should never lose or limit yourself because that’s what they fell in love with in the first place. Sure Paris without a boyfriend on Valentines day might not sound like such a great idea at first but it’s a beautiful place, and with the company of my beautiful girls I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Snaps from our weekend!
Golden Hour Girl 
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