Journey's End

So yesterday I finally got back from my holiday to London and Paris. To sum up my holiday in 1 sentence only; I have found my home.
My journey started with London (after 2 flights). As the plane descended I looked out the window and saw it all spread out below me; illuminated the most spectacular golden colour with the Thames weaving its way throughout the gold like smoke. Everything seemed so surreal and beautiful I began to weep with ecstasy.
Then once my feet actually touched the ground, a sense of home swept over me. Until then, I had never felt home in the expected places, and yet with this unexpection came the greatest sense of it ever.

Many sights were seen:

The British Museum

221B Baker Street (The Sherlock Holmes Museum)

Buckingham Palace

(Me with a police box/TARDIS outside of Earl's Court Station)

The Tower Of London

The Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben is the name of the bell inside it) and the Houses of Parliament

Kings Cross Station/Platform 9 3/4

Westminster Abbey

I also explored Whitechapel (Jack the Ripper) and saw places like Downing St, the art gallery where Skyfall was filmed, The London Museum, Hamley's, St Paul's Cathedral, St Bartholomews Hospital, the Ritz, Tower Bridge, Westminster Bridge and London Bridge. Aside from the number of people who smoke cigarettes, the most noticeable thing about London is how delightfully contagious the accents are. After about a day, my own twangy accent mellowed into something vaguely similar to BBC English, then after a day in Paris it was back to reality....

Nonetheless, Paris was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Well, not on the first day. Upon boarding the Eurostar from St Pancras to Gare Du Nord, any knowledge I had of the French language seemed to disappear instantly, and by the time I arrived, I spoke French with the clarity of a mute.

But as the days went on and I was forced to actually talk to people, it became easier to talk and I got less nervous. And I suppose seeing beautiful sights such as the Louvre, Champs-Élyseés, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Academie Nationale de Music, Notre Dame, Lover's Bridge and the Bastille monument make everything daunting seem less memorable.

Arc de Triomphe

From the top of the Arc.... best view ever!!

I look at this photo now and instead of seeing the beauty behind me, I can think only of how cold and wet my feet are

Mona Lisa

The Louvre; my most favourite part of the holiday, and my new favourite building

In front of Notre Dame. Inside it's all dark but the windows are the most beautiful colours

On the whole, this holiday was not so much a mere holiday, but something that highlighted two things:

• I know where I'm going to live one day
• I no longer feel like the child I can still claim to be at the movies (for cheaper admission)

The sudden feeling of maturity can only be attributed to the independence I felt whilst overseas. The first time one steps foot in a foreign country can seem incredibly daunting (and it is), but when you acclimatise to it all, you feel immense feelings of success. 

For me, the success came with how easy it was to get around London and Paris (much thanks needs to be given to the Underground and the Metropolitain) and after realising that I was getting around the country with more ease than my other traveling companions, it felt as if I'd emerged from a cocoon and opened my wings.

I'm going to need those wings this year. School has started and all my holiday adventures have had to come to an end. The reality has hit me again, but the memories linger on and the dream of returning to Europe has become a motivation.