A Week in Paris

WOW WOW WOW. A lot has happened in the past week! Let me share a couple of pieces with you.

First, let’s review just where I have been and for how long.

Edinburgh, Scotland (with one weekend in Belfast)

Brussels, Belgium for one weekend

Paris, France for a week of research

And now…BUDAPEST! For a couple more weeks of classes.

Mandatory music choices while reading about my time in France:

Les Champs Elysees

Le Temps de L'amour

1. Places I visited: three museums (the louvre, the d’orsay, and l’orangerie), the Eiffel tower, and many bakeries.
2. Our research was deeply interesting. We interviewed people about the integration of the Muslim community into mainstream French society. We learned about more subtle ways in which Muslims can be discriminated against, and heard the stories of many people along the way. Although we were not able to speak with people in French, we found the Parisians to be enormously accommodating. After this week in France I’m beginning to think the cranky, French-speaking person who looks at you with disdain doesn’t exist.
   
   Ex: While we were booking our train tickets to Budapest we had trouble communicating with the people at the station, they only spoke French and we were quite concerned about making arrangements so we could get back in time for classes in Hungary. It wasn’t too long before a very kind, stylish woman stepped in and translated for us. We learned about her son, who teaches at Columbia, and her time living in Switzerland.

   

   An afternoon snack in Paris

   

   First crepe of the trip

   

   Coconut, amaretto, and salted caramel gelato

   
   
3. One of my favorite moments of the trip was sitting on a canal the first full day we were in Paris (that Sunday). It was sunny and we made our way to a canal with many cafes sitting by the water. The rest of my group branched off to walk down the canal, but I ate at one of the restaurants.  
4. The meal choices were unstoppable. I’ve told many of the students on our program that my group had the self-control of four year olds and the energy of ninety year olds. Can you sustain yourself for a week on baguettes, cheese, wine, and crepes? Yes. But you’re gonna feel pretty tired. Even so, no regrets.
   ***Another favorite snack while in Paris? Flower shaped gelato. They put different flavors on the cone and make it look like a flower.
5. I WENT TO THE BEST VINTAGE STORE IN ALL OF PARIS. It’s called the Kilo Store and they sell clothes per kilo. It was a great opportunity for me to find a few affordable souvenirs from my time in France. I got a dress for five euro and a blouse for three.
6. Despite the amazing dress find, I got an even better purchase out of this trip. Some of you may know that I take notes and draw intricate webs in these journals by Knock Knock that have quotes in them. They're rather expensive, but I've had the fortune of finding them in various places on the internet for cheaper than the retail price. Even so, it's always a bit stressful when I make it to the end of one. They're the only way I've grown to take notes, but it's one of the more pricey academic indulgences I make. I love them dearly and have collected nearly every version in production. I even have a lot of the quotes memorized, they're just really amazing okay. BUT WAIT! I found them in French! FOR THREE EURO. I lost my mind. I can look through these journals while I'm travelling and know what they're saying, never having learned French. It was a wonderful discovery.
7. The Eiffel tower is all that. I climbed the stairs and phew. I’m done with fitness for the next couple of months.
8. I finished off the time in Paris in style. Friday night we got into the Louvre for free, because it’s open to students on Friday nights. I drank wine from a water bottle and looked at some amazing statues.
9. The L’Orangerie, which I visited the Saturday morning before our departure, was really beautiful. It’s home to Monet’s water lilies and many other impressionist pieces.
   
   Travelling to Budapest went just fine! It was really crazy, but all our arrangements fell into place and we didn’t have to sleep in a train station or arrive in Budapest late.