This past summer after finishing my study abroad experience in London, I visited the beautiful country of France with my family. After taking the Eurostar from London to Paris, we stayed a couple nights and explored the so called "City of Lights". Although there is so much I could write about my experience in Paris, I won't bother to talk about it in this post. Instead, I wanted to reminisce on the surreal experience I had in the remarkable city that is Le Mans.

Before I even talk about the city and more importantly the furry creatures I encountered, I wanted to give some quick praise to the high speed train which took us from Paris to Le Mans. Not only was it quick, it was clean as well. Similar to how the Shinkansen in Japan works, the train we rode stopped at multiple different stations on its way to a further city but each stop was extremely timely.

Moving on, once we reached Le Mans, we met with one of my mom's old acquaintances who generously offered to take us on a nice tour around the city. Although there was a slight language barrier, his English was superb compared to most of the French population. Because we arrived in the afternoon, we went straight to get some lunch before walking around the city. Usually, I am not very adventurous when it comes to food but there was a menu item that featured something I had never seen before, rabbit! Let me tell you, this delectable dish did not disappoint. In fact, it was the best thing I ate throughout my time in France.

After the fabulous lunch, we walked towards the town center. Along the way, we visited multiple museums and parks. They were definitely interesting but nothing awe-inspiring. On the other hand, as we neared the famous Cathédrale Saint Julien-Le Mans, the atmosphere completely changed. To sum up, the city is split in 2, one side features newer buildings and robust streets while the other boasts old architectural style. Being surrounded by this old architecture, quiet streets, blue sky, and castle-like buildings gave me a feeling I can only describe as nostalgia. Despite never visiting Le Mans or even France before, the sights and nostalgic sentiment truly invoked an intense feeling of happiness and peace.

Furthering this feeling of harmony was the plethora of cats wandering the streets of the old city center. When I was young, my friends would always ask seemingly shallow questions along the lines of, "Would you want to be a bird so you can fly?", "What animal would you want to be?", "Do you want to run as fast as a cheetah?". At the time I didn't really bother to think too much about these questions but as soon as I saw the majestic cats wandering through the streets, I never more wanted to be an animal. If I was a cat, I could have such a grand adventure wandering through the beautiful architecture, jumping over rooftops, climbing along the walls, and napping in the grass spread out through the area. Even better for the cats, residents living around the area would leave out bowls of cat food for them to grab and go as they pleased. It was as if you got unlimited meal swipes for whichever restaurants you wanted to visit. To conclude, I would without a doubt call this spectacular place a "Cat's Paradise".