Paris in Solidarity

I took a rather impromptu trip to Paris this past weekend, and I am so glad that I came. Paris definitely surpassed all of my expectations, living up to its hype as one of the most iconic cities in Europe. As I walked around and saw the famous landmarks such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Pantheon, and the Luxembourg Palace, it really didn’t sink in that I was actually in Paris, feeling instead like more of a dream. After all, I hadn’t decided to come until a few days before, and the streets were much less crowded than I expected (which I definitely wasn’t upset about!). But the haziness in my mind was totally blown away as we approached Paris’ greatest monument, the Eiffel Tower. The sheer size of the tower was mind-blowing – the pictures (while beautiful) really don’t do it justice. And tourists were absolutely everywhere, for good reason. The sun was about to set, and the Eiffel Tower was about to light up for the night.

We got a good place to sit on the lawn across the Seine River and waited for the lights to come up. The colors chosen for that evening were those of the German flag, to represent France’s solidarity in the face of the Munich mall shootings. It was a somber reminder for me, especially since I’d visited Munich earlier this month and loved the city. Being here in Europe has really shifted my perspective; it’s brought everything so much closer, for both good and bad. I can travel for less than a day and encounter cities of vastly different cultures, but also more deeply experience the pain whenever something happens to those cities. As an American, I feel that the continent’s distance has cushioned me from reality over here. When we learned about the history of Germany after World War II, I was disappointed, but not shocked, by how little I knew; my school system heavily focused on American and Texas History at the expense of a global understanding. I hope this changes in the future, if for no other reason than to better equip us for working in a global market. But I also wish that it would shrink down the physical and cultural barriers between not only us and Europe, but the remainder of the world. I’m hoping for a day when we would light up the Eiffel Tower not only for Germany and Orlando, but for Turkey and Syria. It’s easy to make divisions, to separate “the other” and then look away, but bringing nations together requires much more effort. But for the world to have a bright future, we cannot take the easy way any longer.