When I was in school I never had a lot of confidence.
I would keep my head down, walk quickly, and talk to no one.
This didn't change in until college, but would still keep my head down when I walked into places for the fear someone may talk to me.
As I got older, I started to care less about what people thought about me, started to keep my head up when I walked into a room and now I'm more confident in what I do.
You are probably wondering why I am telling you about my insecurities while growing up and what this has to do with travel, but it has everything to do with travel.
While traveling all over the world I noticed that when people would walk into a room, either they did one of two things.
They would look down at their feet or they would be on their phone not looking around.
Most of the places that I go have such great designs all around and not just at eye level.
On the ceilings there are intricate designs of gold, patterns, and tiles.
While down the walls there are carvings of fleur de lis, lions, children, and coat of armor.
In each building that we came across in Paris there was something different.
The floors were polished and each speck of white stood out in the marble.
Even with the hoards of tourists the floors withstood and not one was chipped.
There were rooms that were left untouched to the public that only the staff could access.
Those are the places that I wanted to explore the most.
Looking like a bobble-head in each location that we explored, there was a stairwell that spiraled.
There were hidden gems all along the way.
Even the streets had a story to tell.
The buildings that stood long ago that have been finished and looked after.
Nothing was left untouched, but left to the imagination of dungeons and secret doors.
Watching those walk by with not a care in the world that these wonderful places had been built centuries before.
The door knobs, curtains, doors themselves, glasses, chandlers, and other light fixtures were made to look like they were original in that location, but were actually hand crafted in those back rooms.
The curator putting their knowledge to good use and keeping their head about like mine.
Those are the people that make sure that every detail was like it was when the building was first built.
These were the things that I wanted to see.
How were they taken care of, what was being kept from the public, and what was real or not.
How do we know?
At each turn my confidence blossomed and bloomed into what I felt was a true Parisian.
Taking the back alley, taking the metro that was above ground, strolling around with our bread in hand along with our wine.
When it came to ordering food it was done in French and general conversations with a cup of café.
Watching other tourists walk by with the their nose to the ground or side eyes.
There are times that when you walk into a shop and you can tell that no one there speaks English.
You want to try your best to just point, but we did make sure that we knew the language well enough to order.
With each day that came to an end our heads grew higher and our confidence became more pronounced.
By the last few days, even the other tourists didn't know that we weren't from there.
Walking around the town in the side streets even the sides of the buildings had art.
There were times that you couldn't help but get swept up in taking pictures of the people playing music.
Each corner of this wonderful city was something new and exciting.
I wanted to scream at people to look up and tell them to stop looking at their feet.
In the churches there were domes of gold and Saints.
Each design could become a shape that you wanted with just a simple turn of the head.
Most of the people would walk around with the only thought of just doing what was on their list and getting out.
We decided to try and not be the touristy couple and do things that the locals did.
Walk around the city eating, sitting outside talking, trying everything that we can, and we did.
Looking up, down, and around; can change your outlook on life.
Time stands still and questions can be asked that normally would not be.
Next time you are somewhere that you are unfamiliar with,
be that bobble-head and keep looking all around for those small finds.
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