11.11.21
I cannot believe it is day 50 of solo travel! It feels so crazy, but today I definitely felt the impact of traveling for so long.
This morning I went to a vegan patisserie. I got a pumpkin latte and an amazing apple pastry (also some more for later). I then decided to stock up on my favorite desserts- macarons! They looked amazing and I got so many cool flavors.
My plan for the day was to go to Versailles and I was pretty excited for the short day trip, but after walking to the train station I found that the train that goes to Versailles was not working, so instead I would have to take public transport. I felt very exhausted and decided that the cost to get there/back combined with the cost to go into the palace was not worth how exhausted I was feeling! I wasn’t quite burnt out, but this news showed me that a more relaxed day would be better.
I went to the Pompidou museum which is a huge, incredible contemporary art museum. I wish I had visited this place with more energy to fully walk around and experience all the amazing inspiring exhibitions, but the whole time I felt like I was sleepwalking. The art I did see was incredible and this is a museum I would definitely return to and carve out a much longer chunk of time to explore.
I then went to watch a movie at the cinemas. Today is the first day of my travels where I truly feel homesick. Not exactly lonely or anxious or overwhelmed but purely homesick which is a hard feeling to grapple with as there is really no solution and it is not something I have truly felt before. The movie, though, was a very good coping mechanism! I saw the Marvel movie “the Eternals”. I always watched Marvel at home so seeing it and hearing English made me feel so comfortable and definitely helped with my unease.
The movie was a great way to end a slower day. I walked to get a falafel pita for dinner. I’m not sure how much great Turkish food there is in Denver, so I am making sure to get my fix now!
I walked back to the hostel, packed up, and ended the day.
Maile Abroad 