Falling In Love With The City

Sorry for the late update on my beginning adventures in Paris but I have barely had time to sit down. There is so much to do here! When I got here, it was definitely the biggest culture shock out of all the other places I visited because I was expecting everyone to speak a little English but that was not the case. After finding my apartment, figuring out how to get in, and meeting my 3 roommates, I was FINALLY able to unpack my suitcase. My apartment is huge! It has a living area with a few chairs and a couch connected to a room with a dining table surrounded by tons of travel books left my students in the past. This huge room is leading out to a balcony with a cute table and a few chairs. Then we also have a full sized kitchen, 2 bedrooms for the 4 of us, 2 bathrooms, and a washing machine. We definitely got really lucky with the size of our apartment and it is also only a 20 minute walk from school and a 25 minute walk to the Seine. We are living in the 13^th arrondissement which I am loving because it is residential, so I feel like I am really living in Paris, but it is also close to a ton of really fun areas.

Finally in Paris! 

The view from the end of my street.

We all went at our programs headquarters the next morning. We had the chance to meet everyone working in our program and also all the students participating in it. We are all American but there are people from all around the country. After a little orientation, I was your typical tourist and saw Notre-Dame with a few of the girls I met that day. It is beautiful inside! The next day we met at ISA (International Studies Abroad) again and went over the academics of our program. Every class is 3 hours long and taught in French with the exception of 4 hour long classes taught in English. The classes I signed up to take are an intensive French language course, Discovering Paris, Discovering French Culture, and Fashion in France (taught in English). This gives me 19 hours of class time a week which is surprisingly more than what I have at home! Later that night we took a boat ride down the Seine with everyone in our program. It’s a great way to see a lot of the big monuments of Paris in one spot. It seems like the theme of our first week in Paris is to be as touristy as possible so to continue the trend, we got crepes for dinner!

Some other girls from the University of Denver on our boat ride on the Seine. 

On Thursday we had to meet at ISA again to go over some final things with our housing. We got dismissed around 11:30 am and had the rest of the day free. Having no plans for a day in Paris is one of my favorite things. One of my friends knew of this bakery and café in the 7^th arrondissement so we went there and got food for lunch. This café had everything from sandwiches to quiches, unique salads to tarts, and any type of bread you could imagine to beautiful pastries. After grabbing one of their delicious quiches, we headed over to the Tuileries Garden on the gorgeous day to eat. We spotted the Arc de Triomphe down the way and decided to walk to it and see what we stumbled on in between. Aside from it being a beautiful walk all the way down, we had so much fun going into many of the shops along the Champs Elysees. There was a Laudree half-way down so we HAD to stop in. Their selection of macaroons and pastries was never ending! The entire bakery was also gorgeous. I wanted my first ever macaroon to be here at Laudree in Paris, and yes, it was well worth the wait! After walking the rest of the Champs Elysees up to the Arc  de Triomphe and around, we decided to just walk to Montmartre where we were meeting the rest of our group for a walking tour. Montmartre is famous for Moulin Rouge but we also learned a lot about artists living in the area that I had no idea about. At the end of the tour we walked up to Sacre Coeur for some breathtaking views of the city. I believe the best way to see the city is to walk! You never know what little café, boutique, or monument youre going to miss by taking the metro or a cab.

My first macaroon!

Beautiful assortment macaroons at Laudree. 

Sacre Coeur 

The next day we took a day trip to Versailles. I knew I was going back o Sunday for a tour with my uncle so I just jumped from room to room. The décor and extravagance of every room is amazing! We also walked around the gardens outside because it was a beautiful day. I couldn’t get enough of, what looked like, miles and miles of gorgeous gardens! My friends and I sat by the water in the middle of the gardens for about 2 hours but it seemed like only 10 minutes with that kind of scenery, and company.

Just a little bit of the gorgeous gardens at Versailles.

The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. 

On Saturday, a few of us went to an outdoor flea market in northern Paris. It was definitely not what I was expecting. We had fun looking around but I was expecting more unique markets than what there were. I have a few other flea markets to check out on my list so hopefully the next few are better!

I love stumbling into these cute outdoor markets throughout the street of Paris! 

On Sunday I met my uncle and his friend at the Plaza Anthonee for breakfast before we ventured off on our detailed tour of Versailles. The hotel was absolutely beautiful and right off of Avenue Montaigne, another popular street in Paris near the Arc de Triomphe. And of course I could get used to walking in and being greeted with, “Right this way, Madame.” My uncle was sick and couldn’t go to Versailles but his friend and I went anyways. It gave me a different perspective than the other day to hear all the history behind the palace.

That next week I started classes. I couldn’t wait to meet people from all over the world studying in Paris! People in my classes were from the United States, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Columbia, Spain and a few other countries. It’s weird being in class with a student from another country and your only mutual language is French! My classes are going well but they are so long.  We aren’t used to having 3 or 4 hour long classes back in the States. I can definitely tell my French is improving with how much we are speaking it and hearing it in our classes and outside the classroom, but I can’t wait to see how much it improves by the end of the year! 

I have already fallen more in love with Paris and I have only been here for a few weeks. Someone is going to have to drag me out of the amazing city at the end of December because I know I will not want to go home! 

I traveled to Italy last weekend with a few of my friends so I will try and update my blog on my adventures as soon as I can!