Barefoot in Paris: Why Your Next Trip Should be Solo

Green Light to Paris

Every immigrant in America knows the power of the color green. Its normally associated with growth, money, and vitality.

Pursuing these three things are many times the basis for leaving one’s country. But the green I want to focus on today comes before the word card.

A green card is the USA’s way of saying you can stay in the country legally. It gives you the authority to work and travel. After a probationary period without a criminal record, the final step is naturalization (becoming a U.S. citizen).

I also went through this process. My trip to Haiti was taken shortly after I received permanent residency. Like me, Sherley Florival received her green card and looked forward to the freedoms that ensued.

Pardon My French

Sherley told me her story and I knew I had to share with the solo travel world. If you ever had any doubts about traveling alone, read The Naked Traveler and Tips when you get a chance.

First, you must keep reading to the end!

In some cases, you have to return to your birth country to attain the green card. Sherley was one of those cases.

She had just returned from Haiti and the high of this accomplishment had barely worn off. From childhood, she dreamed of travel to Paris. With the French influence over Haiti, it was no surprise.

The green card was a passport of sorts. It now allowed her the chance to travel freely in and out of the States. So when she received a call at 3 am one morning, it seemed like fate.

Her friend of about a year (we’ll call her Tina) calls frantic with possibility. “Let’s go to Paris”. Along with her new immigration status, Sherley happened to have enough money to happily consent.  

Long story short, flights were booked that very night and Paris was no longer in a young girl’s dream. It was approximately four months away.

Paris A Deux (2’fer)

Luggage and clothing were purchased. Airbnb’s booked. Through research, Sherley also found a three-country Eurail pass for about $300 (USD) per person.

It was discounted since there were two of them. Only a single ticket would be issued.  

Sherley and Tina mutually agreed on Paris, Spain, and Italy. The ticket included a map, diary and review section. You could mail the latter once the trip ended for a free gift.

Paris Part One:

La vie en Rose (Seeing Life Through Rose-Colored Glasses)

Once the friends arrived in Paris, the sights and sounds were everything they imagined. They walked around in their Parisian inspired clothing and took unlimited pictures.

The only qualm (negative) involved the lack of food variety and the cramped accommodations. One can only eat so many croissants for breakfast!

But they were in Paris having a ball, after all, so the women made it work.

They were still giddy with the spontaneous way their international dreams had come true. They were in the country known for romance and rose-colored glasses (optimism).

Parlez vous Francais? (Do you speak French)

It was also a bonus that they were able to practice their French.

Tina had a few friends in Paris and they attended cultural events they most likely would not have known about on their own. According to Sherley, this made the trip feel even more special and memorable.

Overnight bags were packed and they moved on to the second city. Spain was an uneventful day trip.

The friendship was such that Sherley and Tina shared food, swapped shoes/clothing, and went half on transportation. As it often does on group trips, it wasn’t long before things went left.

Ciao (Goodbye) Friendship

Italy:

Tina seemed to have many connections in high places. Before arriving in Italy, she had prearranged for them to be the guest of a high ranking government official. It seemed like an ideal plan since that would replace lodging costs.

On this whirl-wind visit to Europe, Italy is where Sherley would commit three ‘cardinal sins’. At least that’s how Tina classified them.

The first occurred when Sherley’s friend from Canada called and she revealed where they were staying. It was never explained that the location was to be kept secret. Sure she wouldn’t be ‘checking-in’ on social media. But she didn’t see the harm in sharing her location with another good friend.

Faux pas (mistake)

Tina became furious and made Sherley feel like a pauper who was ignorant of protocol. Sherley describes attempting to keep her cool for the sake of the friendship.

The second faux pas was in opening the windows to air out the stuffy room.

The room was clean but obviously unused. There was a layer of dust on the curtains, furniture and in the air.

It was a natural reaction to allow for better ventilation considering there was no air conditioning or fan. Tina protested as if they were avoiding a potential sniper attack.

Sure, it was a government building but Sherley wasn’t intending to endanger them. Her allergies made breathing nearly impossible so this was no light matter.

Pardon

From that moment on, Tina shut down and no longer acknowledged Sherley’s existence! They were bedmates but the friendship and shared good times were instantly severed.

Tina found ways to nitpick and attempt to lord over Sherley. Of course, she had to defend herself and this seemed to also take Tina by surprise.

As Sherley was telling me the story, I couldn’t help but feel like she was a side-kick who Tina saw as an ingrate. She wanted credit for the role her connections played in their housing.  

They went from being equals to rivals. Sherley was the lesser counterpart if Tina’s behavior was any indication.

Excusez-moi (Excuse me)

I’m not taking sides, only retelling in my own words. But I know Sherley’s personality.

I never doubted that she attempted to make amends with Tina. Yet Tina only addressed her when it was absolutely necessary.

No small talk!

At this point, the women didn’t do anything together except sharing a bed. They each toured Italy on their own. One night their host/driver offered to take them to dinner.

No

Tina declined because she could not stand to be in Sherley’s presence. Sherley accepted the offer when she noticed how offended the host had become.

Tina expressed shock that Sherley would go to dinner without her. This was her connection and how dare Sherley feel confident enough to overrule her!

The gentleman was much older than the young women. His generation did not take well to denials of hospitality. Sherley knew this and claims that motivated her actions.

If there was spitefulness involved, she left it out of the story.

Finale

The dinner went extremely well and they even went for a stroll after. Sherley awoke the next morning to find Tina missing.

There was no explanation!

Sherley hadn’t known that the acceptance of dinner was the third sin and final straw!

Later on that day, Sherley noticed that all of the shoes and clothing she had shared with Tina were missing from her bag. Most of her belongings were left behind in Paris since she knew they were freely sharing everything.

This understandably upset Sherley. So she also took any odd items around the room that she had paid for.

She found random things like an outlet converter and charger. Though Sherley had bought some of the clothing that Tina took, she never stooped to the level of taking clothing.

Though she did “stoop” to some degree as described.

Cinderella

The next day was their last in Italy. Tina gave Sherley a cryptic warning: “I don’t know how you will get to the train station”.

In other words, it would only be her riding with the driver.

By this time, Sherley was used to the pettiness and figured it wouldn’t be difficult to find another means to get on the train.

She was wrong.

C’est la vie (That’s Life)

After cleaning up and packing, she could not find a cab or rideshare service. Meanwhile, she did not have much time left before the train’s arrival.

Google showed the walking distance at thirty minutes.

Since the only pair of shoes remaining in her luggage were heels, she resigned herself to walking in them, but not for very long. The unpaved sidewalks were not designed as a fashion runway.

Eventually, Sherley disregarded the onlookers, carried the heels in one hand and braved the Italian cobblestones.

She walked the entire way, reminding herself that if people thought she was crazy at least she looked cute. She wore a chic hat and a cool cotton jumper.

As she neared the station, Sherley dug in her purse for the ticket. It wasn’t there.

She checked repeatedly knowing it had always been in her possession.

There were only so many times she could check her purse. The pamphlets that came with the ticket were the lone documents.

The single ticket was gone! Stolen!

That was the moment Sherley realized Tina’s plan to leave her stranded. There was only one ticket and they both had to be together to board.

Not only did she take the ticket, but she attempted to delay Sherley in order to miss the train. There was no other explanation!

Bon Courage (Take Courage)

It seemed unimaginable that her ‘friend’ would behave in such a manner!

Thankfully Italy had cool temperatures as she walked with the luggage. She hoped that was a sign she wouldn’t be out of $150.

She had calculated this amount for a one-way ticket since the round trip was double that amount.

Throughout her long trek, Sherley prayed continuously for a miracle.

The prayers worked. She was able to board with serial numbers found on the other documents Tina had left behind.

Au Revoir (Until we meet again)

Once on the train, Sherley could see Tina seated in their original section but she never said a word to her.

They returned to Paris and lived as strangers for the following week. As a last “white flag” effort, Sherley reassured Tina that she was still welcomed to her friend’s home during the long layover on their return flight.

Tina declined and said she would get a hotel room.

I would be years before they would see each other again. Tina kept reaching out but it took Sherley a while to process, regroup and reevaluate their friendship.

Currently, they are cordial with one another. However, things will never be the same!

Oui Oui (Yes, yes)

When I told Sherley I was starting a solo travel blog, we had just reconnected after several years. I told her that this was the main way I traveled and she said she was planning on doing the same.

She gave me a brief summary but later on gave me the full version.

I thought this story would be a great way to highlight the high and lows of traveling with someone else.

I like to say that you don’t know someone until you’ve either lived or traveled with them. Sherley is a good sport (better than I would be) and eventually recovered from this traumatic experience

Barefoot in…Europe?

Technically Sherley was barefoot in Italy, not Paris, but it’s the title of a song by Stromae! He sings about a barefoot diva!!!

Another moral of the story is that you can never abandon yourself on a trip!

Solo is the way to cut drama, confusion, and everything else that happened on this crazy trip.

Sherley Florival is an actress currently living in Atlanta, Georgia.

Follow Sherley on IG

*All names and images used with permission © 2019, Poof Bee Gone, All Rights Reserved

~Poof Bee Gone

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