So much excitement inside of me led up to this point. I had always wondered what Paris was like and now I was here. I could see the Eiffel Tower lit up and the cute boutiques surrounding the city were all too cute.
For the days we were there we met with a research fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies who deals with crisis and Foreign Affairs like that of the high representative of Foreign Affairs, Lady Ashton. We also met the Deputy Director for EU Affairs at the French Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs. There we discussed topics such as the Libya and Egypt crisis as well as Turkey’s accession and the French Referendum that didn’t allow for Turkey to join, and also the Roma issue. Both were very informative.
When we were finished with the meetings, we had time to explore the city. From climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to descending under the streets of Paris to the Catacombs, there were endless places to see. I also had the opportunity to see the famous Louvre and the Mona Lisa that hangs inside of it (So much hype for such a small painting…how did it get so famous?). And of course, when I saw the Eiffel Tower I was in awww. Too bad it wasn’t summer, it would have been nice to have a picnic and lay outside to admire it all day and all night. I also did see the Notre Dame, but the line was too long to see the inside, maybe next time…?
Half of the IES students, including myself, spent half the day in Versailles. Oh my gosh was it breathtaking. I felt like I was Marie Antoineete. The gardens had beautiful fountains and statues lined the pathways. A little lake rests in the garden with access to row a boat, which some students took advantage of. There were also various restaurants to eat at and enjoy the view. You could definitely get lost in the gardens and would be a great place to play hide-and-go seek. After roaming the garden we went inside the palace. Each room had a royal feel to it. The beds, the chairs, the mirrors, the statues and paintings, everything was gorgeous.
To be rich and live like a king and queen must be pretty special! And now the food. Oh French food is so unique. One especially good meal I had was at a restaurant near Notre Dame. It was a seven-course meal with bottom-less supply of wine, all for forty euro. I had bread, veggies that came from a basket (which I thought was kind of funny); pasta, potatoes and cous cous salads as our second course; sausages for the third; our entre in which I had a lamb kebob with a baked potato and a small salad; fifth course was an assortment of cheeses all delicious; fruit; and finally if you made it to the seventh course, which I surprisingly got to was hazelnut ice cream but I think the tiramisu and chocolate mouse were goo too.
Overall, I liked Paris as a city, but if you didn’t speak French, the people were not very nice and/or helpful. Catching a cab is almost impossible, especially in the Latin Quarter because you have to wait in line for a cab and not flag one down. You also had to keep an eye on your wallet and be smart since a few people got their wallets taken and cheated out of their money. (Thank goodness I was okay.) I also think the best time to go would be the spring or summer when flowers are blooming and enjoying the outside without bundling up and avoiding the cold that awaits you outside. Still, I did love it…but no, I did not find love.
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