Paris

Though I had long grown accustomed to traveling alone, solitude invariably arrived unannounced on the third night. As ever, I ventured out, hoping to wander through the nocturnal streets in search of solace. I consider myself a rational person, yet my subsequent actions were guided purely by intuition. I ran through the Louvre, past the Seine, and by Notre-Dame, driven by an intense longing to encounter her amidst the Parisian streets veiled in night. But when I suddenly looked back, she was nowhere to be found in the midst of that flickering light. Thus, I boarded the night metro, leaving the heart of the city behind, and ascended to the Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre. I sought to calm my troubled soul, and I must confess that the profound emotion I felt in that moment gave me a sense of salvation. The years of toil and solitude erupted in that night, utterly dismantling the emotional walls I had erected within myself.