There’s a major downside to travelling alone that’s not often talked about: what do you do when you’re in front of landmark but have no one to take your picture? My solution is either to seek out a fellow English speaker or look for someone similarly struggling to get a photo of themselves. I’ve met some incredibly nice and cool people this way, and many of my conversations in Paris began with, “Pardon moi, un photo, s’il vous plait?”
On my blog, I’m open about the fact that navigating Paris solo has probably been my greatest travel challenge to date. Understandably, I was beyond excited when, on my second day in Paris, I finally managed to locate Notre Dame. I quickly asked a nice English-speaking Russian man to take my photo, and he happily obliged. We chatted for a few minutes and then I went on my way, not bothering to check my iPhone 4’s camera roll to ensure that the photo came out well. Later that night in my hotel room, I was absentmindedly uploading photos from the day to Facebook when I noticed that something had gone amiss with my Notre Dame shot. There was me, the bottom third of the famous church…and the Russian man’s finger.
So, I have no photos of myself in front of the entire Notre Dame. Oh well, that’s as good an excuse as any to return someday!
