My Favorite Experiences So Far

– seeing the Venus de Milo at the Louvre

– visiting Château Chenonceau, in the Loire Valley

– stumbling across views of the Eiffel Tower without seeking them out

My first sighting of the Eiffel Tower was my second week in Paris; from the top of Montmartre, I glimpsed the tower through the trees. Then a week later I caught a view of the tower from between two buildings in the 15e. Finally, 4 weeks in, I walked underneath the tower and took photos with it. But my favorite is still the sudden, surprise views I get of it sometimes: This week I turned around on my way to class for some reason and saw the Eiffel Tower across the Luxembourg Gardens — I’d been walking that route at least once a day but had never looked back before! A few days ago, I was walking along the Seine in the rain and saw the Eiffel Tower beautifully shrouded in fog. 

– going on the terrace of the Institut Arabe, and the hypostyle room

– seeing Frozen in French

La Reine des Neiges was amazing, even the 4th time — I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing it! I am proud to say that I now have all the lyrics to “Liberee, Delivree” memorized (that’s “Let it Go”), and I’m working on “Je vais feter ce renouveau” (“For the First Time in Forever”).  I really love the French versions of the songs — while some things are lost in translation, like the open door imagery (the French version of “Love is an Open Door” translates to “Love is a Gift”), other unique imagery is created (in “Do you want to build a snowman,” Anna sings that it’s like her sister has turned to ice). 

– walking through the Luxembourg Gardens

I hadn’t been doing this often enough, but now I’m taking more time to enjoy them when I have time between classes.

– couscous dinner at Chez Mamane

While looking for a restaurant in the 13e arrondisement, some other CUPA students and I found a place that serves nothing but cous cous. You order the meat you want, and it arrives accompanied by a gigantic platter of cous cous and bowl of vegetable stew to share. They also had some very intriguing Algerian wine that was unlike anything I had ever tasted before.

– 12-piece string orchestra in Châtelet metro

– Onéguine ballet

I haven’t seen that much ballet, and so this was a great experience. The piece is based on the story of Pushkin’s novel Eugène Onéguine, set to lesser-known music by Tchaikovsky, and choreographed by South African ballet dancer John Cranko.  It was absolutely beautiful.

– tea and fries at Turkish (?) place

This hole-in-the-wall restaurant is located near Sorbonne-Centre Clignancourt. Their menu is varied, so it’s hard to pin down whether they’re Turkish, Greek, or something else along those lines, but whatever their cuisine it’s cheap and delicious. I had the chicken cordon bleu sandwich both times I went. I guess the servers remembered me the second time, because despite ordering the sandwich instead of the menu they gave me a helping of their signature fries and offered me sweet honeyed mint tea, similar to the tea I drank at the Mosquée.

– walking through the courtyard of la Sorbonne

I never fail to be amazed by this! And because of my class schedule, I have the opportunity to see it at all times of day. 

– Julien

Julien is officially my favorite boulangerie. They’re right near CUPA, so I fell in love with them early and since a lot of my classes are still nearby, I go back several times a week. Their chocolat chaud is delicious, and I love their jambon-beurre sandwiches, but my favorite is days where they have their saumon-épinard quiche, which they serve hot. Their pastries are also wonderful!

– 2 encores by Lise de la Salle

– Mariage Frères tea

There is a wonderful crêpe place in Pittsburgh that imports Mariage Frères tea, which is where I was first introduced to it. After daydreaming of it for weeks, I finally went, and wow was it worth the steep price tag. I can’t say enough good things about it. The tea (I ordered Thé de Lune) was delicate enough to drink without milk, and the teapot contained a good 4 or 5 cups worth. The dessert was even more amazing — a Splendeur de Tibet which was a Marco Polo tea-infused crème brûlée topped with the first berries I’ve had since arriving in France. I went with my first new French friend and we sat there for a good two hours eating and talking. 

First Impressions

To wrap the week up, some notes on my impressions so far…

• Paris is a lot warmer than expected, although apparently this is unusual weather we’re having. It’s been a perfect 43-50°F every day so far, although the evenings are a little bit chillier, as I discovered when I ended up wandering the Rue Rivoli after dark yesterday.
• The Metro system is fantastic (buses not quite so much, but still very good), despite how crowded it gets on Saturday evening (although I have yet to experience it at rush hour – I’m not sure I want to!).
• Paris is expensive, especially compared to Pittsburgh. For the last 2 years I’ve become very used to spending $5-8 for a decent lunch, whereas here the cheapest lunch menus seem to be more like €7-9 ($9-12). In Pittsburgh you can get dinner for around the same price as lunch, but here you can expect to almost double the lunch menu price. I’m sure there are places I haven’t discovered yet, so I’m just going to have to keep an eye out for them and seek help from local students once classes start.

• That said, I love the bakeries (and their prices). I’ve only stopped in two of them so far (I know, I know, but it’s only my fourth day here!), and I’ve been more than happy with them. Pains au chocolat, baguette sandwiches with all sorts of fillings, gorgeous tropéziennes, and all sorts of unfamiliar pastries that I can’t wait to try beckon to me from the counters.
• There’s a weird mix of French and English around. Pizza places are named things like “Speed Rabbit Pizza” with menus entirely in French, while the radio announcers speak in high-speed French but play Katy Perry along with Stromae and Swedish House Mafia.

Since I’ve only been off by myself or at my new home pretty much since arriving, I haven’t had any real French immersion yet except at dinner. This will certainly change when Orientation starts tomorrow!