These are a few of my favorite things

As of now, these have been my 3 favorite, personal moments in this city.

1. Parisian Streets at Night
As I mentioned in my last post, one of my good friends who is living in another city in France came to visit me for the weekend. Friday night, we made a 20-30 minute trek back to my apartment and his bnb weekend stay. As we walked back, zig zagging through the narrow streets and hopping over puddles that were evidently not water, we talked French politics, French culture, and how Paris itself is a double edged sword. A few times some drunken passerbys yelled to us and a few boys harassed us for cigarettes but we walked on. I realized in that walk that even though the harassers were annoying and the puddles were really disgusting, I still felt so happy and so thrilled to be walking down the streets of Paris when the entire city seemed to be sleeping. When it was just my friend and I, it was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful, with the whites of buildings and the elaborate and elegant buildings greeting us every step of the way home.

2. Sitting at a cafe and reading for hours
I got out of my language class at 10 am this morning searching for a cafe to read in. One of the things on my Bucket List was to sit in a cafe, order a coffee, and just read for hours. I sort of accomplished that today. So far, we’ve only had our language classes. Starting Friday, I will have my phonetics class 1 hour per weekday, every other week, and four lectures that meet once a week. I also think I might be auditing a class on the history of Versailles, but more on that later. Anyway, the cafe with the cheapest coffee in the area (2,30 I believe) was ironically named Odessa Cafe. I walked inside on this chilly morning, ordered a cafe noisette, and proceeded to read Lolita* until 12:30 pm. Servers, customers, music, and life continued outside my little book world. I remember thinking to myself that though I was reading a book in English, I was completely immersed by Parisiennes speaking, la musique parisienne, et la culture parisienne. A lot better than a Dove moment, this was my little Parisian moment.

* You may ask why Lolita, of all books to start reading in Paris? Well, funny enough, parts of Lolita are set in Paris. In addition, my boyfriend and I are super nerdy sometimes (all the time) and we’re reading this book together then discussing it later. I know the gist of this story, but it’s just interesting to read such a controversial, well-written, and shocking book with your love and see their perspective on it.

3. Meeting Paris’ Inhabitants
I made it a mission of mine before I left to study abroad to meet foreigners–not necessarily Parisians though that’d be nice–while I studied abroad. I’ve actually had a lot of success with this. I started off by meeting a Lithuanian guy who noticed a Russian tint on my French speaking accent (I had no idea I had one lol) and we got along really well. Then, with my friend Sofia whom I met in my language class, I spoke and caught on with a French Canadian man who led us to the FreeMobile boutique shop when we were hopelessly lost in the rain. Next, we talked to a Parisian businessman in a cafe in front of Notre Dame. We switched between speaking in French and English and got some interesting views on his politics. When her and I split ways, I went to meet my friend and had to wait outside for her to come down from her apartment. I gathered up the hutzpa to start up conversation with a French woman who was smoking a cigarette by a doorway. Her and I briefly spoke in French to one another; I learned that she was a doctor in Paris and had just gotten her license. It was pretty exciting to know that I was able to maintain a conversation with her. At my Phonetics placement exam I talked with a guy from Georgia about Russia, growing up in Georgia, etc. But, my favorite moment in meeting international kids was when Zach, Sofia, and I went to an art gallery opening exhibition, where we met a bunch of students (one from Czech, one from China, one from Netherlands) and talked to them all in French. There was this amazing point in the conversation where I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, I’m speaking in French. And I just keep going. And I know everything that everyone is saying. And I get it. And they understand me, and I can explain myself.” It was a glorious moment, to realize that only a few years ago I was staring blankly into my high school French teacher’s eyes when she spoke at me.

Next posts will cover these subjects:

1. Study abroad probs ft. Danielle Levsky
2. Classes at La Sorbonne – History of La Sorbonne – Why I’m going to be x10000 thankful for the rest of my life for even being a part of a Sorbonne program
3. Balancing talking to people from home and talking to people in Paris

-Danielle