Day T - 1
This is how my trip started. Or almost ended. I was supposed to embark on one of my most ambitious projects, to become a Skydiver and here I was sitting on a hospital bed because my stomach decided to take the week off. And my flight was literally the next day.
Day 0
Well guess what? My body healed itself and I got a big YES to go and I was travelling solo, so folks were obviously not too happy but SKYDIVING! YES YES YES! I HATE PACKING but i managed and I was off!
Day 1:
I reached Mimizan only to realize this was a small town in South of France that had no public transport and calling a taxi would have cost me more than 80 Euros and a few hours! So, I hitchhiked with this good samaritan who just offered to drive me to the school!:D
Clearly a long way to go before I can jump unsupervised, this vlog captures the trials of being steady in air which is looks a lot simpler than what it really is! But these three jumps marked the end of Day 5!
Day 6:
I had this one day to prove that I had learnt what I needed to be a skydiver! I had to prove it or I would lose my shot at getting certified! I had to, had to make it count!
I did it! I did it! I am now a certified skydiver and I can track through the sky like an arrow and jump unsupervised! YES!!!!
Day 10-11:
I returned to Paris and chilled but I was done staring at the camera and I took these 2 days to just be and shop and relax and before I knew it, I was in Mumbai running from one shoot to another! :)
I was taken by the sight of it and it was a bit shorter than I thought but the views were simply worth it! In fact I saw my first sunset in Paris on top of the Eiffel Tower!
And as soon as I reached Paris, I literally just dropped my bags and left to visit the Eiffel Tower! It was on my list for a very long time and I don't know why, maybe because it is so high up in the sky? I love heights and I am equally afraid of them!
Do I really need to reiterate how obsessed I was to spend my entire evening here till it got LIT?
DAY 2:
Moving on, I went to check out the next hype item of Paris, The Mona Lisa in Le Louvre! Needless to say I had other observations to make!
It was a beautiful sunny day and The Louvre Pyramid is just so fascinating especially after reading The Da Vinci Code! :D
Loads of fancy hallways and exhibitions that were really important and precious but me not being a connoisseur could not really appreciate them as much. I was only looking for the lady with the twisted smile.
I then walked over to the Notre Dame Cathedral and had the privilege of walking in its peaceful halls!
From there, I moved on to one of the lesser spoken about attractions of Paris, Les Catacombs De Paris which is many many levels underground and is basically what holds the city in place. The city almost caved in because of excessive mining back in the day and at the same time there was the outbreak of plague, so they you used the bones of the deceased to make support pillars for the city which till day holds the city from caving in.
Day 3:
This was the day I was waiting for, I had to travel to Mimizan which is where my Skydiving school was and the way to get there was to take a TGV to Bordeaux from Paris and then a regular train to Mimizan.
And then I ended the evening with some lighthearted entertainment at the Moulin Rouge! Nothing had prepared me for the ambience and feel of this place.
Once there, it was time to get ready for the real deal, the jumping out of an airplane stuff! The reason why I was in France!
The day ended with me getting familiar with the living quarters and making new friends. Embracing what lay ahead as lay in my bed.
Day 5:
It is now time to put everything I learnt and practice and learn mid air, the posture, the tricks, everything! Watch Vlog 2 below!
Days 7-8-9
I now had the license to jump, so no assisted instructor supervising me which meant no pictures while i was in the air and that was just sad, but the memories live on and so do the friendships!
At the end of it my instructor Jean Phi, took me out for an evening in the town with his family and what a memorable experience that was! Thank you for the memories.
This is when it finally happens, JUMP 1! Watch the VLOG below
The experience of jumping out of that airplane was scary, exhilarating, liberating, and so much more at once. Hard to describe it but want to relive it over and over again!
By the end of it, I was giving sermons! :D
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