I'd visited France on a college tour, the kind in which they take care of all of your travel and hotel accommodations, letting you follow their routed path in blissful ignorance. As a first vacation without either of my parents, it had been a great introduction to dip my toe into the waters of some exciting experiences. The pro's can be seen in the images below, having ventured places even beyond Paris to Versailles, Avignon and even Nice, where I may not have gone myself. What you don't see in the photos was all of the long bus rides and waiting for the whole group to catch up; everyone getting crankier the longer and hotter the days got. 

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I can recall from the moment touching down in the CDG airport being amused with the foreign language on all the signs. I wouldn't know until my next solo trip how much you have to figure things out using context when there is not a guide to follow. Our first evening out was accompanied with my favorite weather: sun breaking through clouds with a warm June rain. Overall, it was the architecture and old world charm that swept me away...until my next return when I get to roam the streets freely.