Did you see this?

As I randomly discuss my recent overseas travels with people I get asked whether I saw certain things in certain cities. And both times I've answered no. I get the impression the asker thinks I have missed out dearly on my experiences. No I didn't go to Versailles. To be honest I wasn't interested. I wasn't interested in seeing a monstrous palace with its gardens. I look at pictures and my reaction is 'meh'. Do I think I've missed out - not at all. Did I see the building with the elevators on the outside.... no. Do I think I've missed out - no. I stumbled across the Musee Carnavalet when I got lost. Now that was an experience. I loved it immensely. I wandered around with my mouth open going 'wow' looking at objects hundreds of years old. Finding that place was the highlight of my day. That was my experience.

Just because one person thinks something is a must see doesn't mean another thinks the same way. It also doesn't mean either person has missed out or had an experience better than the other person. To be honest I think I've realised now what it was about Paris that just didn't have me as enthralled and enchanted as I thought I would be. And that is that it is too pretty. It's just too pretty for me. I like earth, I like dirt, I like old, I like history, I like architecture, and whilst there is old and history and architecture in Paris, it's not really my version of old, history and architecture. Perhaps it's also a more rustic and down to earth experience that I like. When I was in Romania and we arrived in Bucharest I hated it. I hated being in a big city. I'd spent a week in the countryside and fell in love. I loved the simple way of life, I loved the food, I loved being in the mountains and away from it all, the clean fresh and crisp air in the morning, the fog laying over the mountains in the distance, the rain against a blackened night sky. I loved that people couldn't speak English as I tried to order some meat from the deli. I loved not worrying about what I wore or what I looked like. I just wanted to immerse myself in my surroundings and not leave.

We all have different wants and needs and desires. I'm satisfied with what I achieved. I had no expectations and I set no limits on myself. I did what I wanted to do and see what I wanted to see. For me. Not for anyone else. But for me.