Welcome to Paris - A New Adventure

Bonjour Tout le Monde!

So...I know it's been awhile but surprise! I'm in Paris. And let me tell you, it's been an adventure already.

Part 1: The Adventure Begins:

I should've expected that bringing my cat across the world to Paris would result in some problems. Coco is no stranger to travel and has patiently rode in the car for 8 hours many times. So, I naively thought an 8 hour flight would be okay. However, it did not go as smoothly as expected. Despite giving her loads of drugs before and during the flight, as I tried to sleep to avoid the upcoming jet lag, Coco decided to break out of her carrier. She then proceeded to have a thrilling adventure running around the plane while everyone tried to sleep. The passengers did their best to help me catch her, and after 15 minutes, I was able to tackle her in the plane aisle. I'm very glad that I brought Coco with me to Paris, but I'm not looking forward to bringing her back on the plane.

Part 2: The Sites:

La Tour Eiffel

Before classes began, I did some wandering. The first place that I wanted to visit was La Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). La Tour Eiffel was built from 1887-1889 and was named after Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built it. La Tour Eiffel is nicknamed "la dame de fer" which translates to the Iron Lady. Originally, people thought La Tour Eiffel was ugly and some of my friends still do. However, I can help but love it and enjoy hanging out in the area. La Tour Eiffel is 1,083 ft. tall and though I didn't climb up it when I first went, there are a total of 1,665 steps from the ground to the top. However, you only have to climb 674 of those stairs to get to the second floor. Across from la Tour Eiffel is Trocadéro which is a great place to take pictures at with slightly less crowds. From the Place du Trocadéro, you can get a beautiful view of the Fontaines de Chaillot and La Tour Eiffel.

Next, I went to La cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris and walked around the area. This has been one of my favorite tourist areas to

Notre-Dame

walk around because there's so much in the area. Notre-Dame was constructed originally from 1163 to the middle of the 14th century. After the French Revolution, it got restored including the addition of a new spire. However, my favorite part of Notre-Dame is that it inspired Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame that was published in 1831. Actually, due to the popularity of the book, you can see that some of the designs on Notre-Dame come from the novel such as the gargoyles. Unfortunately, in 2019, a fire destroyed the spire and the entire roof covering the nave, the choir and the transept so you cannot go inside the cathedral right now. The reopening is planned for 2024 just in time for the Olympics.

Near Notre-Dame is an independent bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. This bookstore always has a line out of the door, but it's definitely worth going into. It originally opened in 1951 and is an English-language bookstore with an amazing view of the Seine and Notre-Dame. The bookstore was originally called Le Mistral but it was changed to Shakespeare and Company in 1964 in honor of the 400th year anniversary of Shakespeare's birth. The building actually used to be a monastery, and me like lots of other fellow readers I'm sure, prefer that it's a bookstore today.

Shakespeare and Company - Bookstore

"I created this bookstore like a man would write a novel, building each room like a chapter, and I like people to open the door the way they open a book, a book that leads into a magic world in their imaginations." - George Whitman, American founder

Coco Fresh Bubble Tea

Obviously while in the area, I walked along the Seine and took a look at the many pop up shops. These shops are called bouquinistes and they are were you go when you want to buy cheap used books. However, they also sell other types of knickknacks like magnets, posters, postcards, and other classic tourist items. The bouquinistes tradition began all the way back in the 16th century. The name is derived from the Flemish word "boeckijn" which means little book. The other exciting thing for me in the area was a Coco bubble tea shop (my favorite place to get bubble tea in Beijing). I love stopping by, getting bubble and then walking around the area, maybe sitting right outside Notre-Dame and reading a book. It's a very fun area with lots of opportunities to get lost wandering.

Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre

My apartment is located in the 18th arrondissement which is in the north of Paris. It is known as Butte-Montmartre and is known for having the large hill of Montmartre. Montmartre is known for its artistic history and Pablo Picasso actually lived and worked in the neighborhood. It's a very vibrant neighborhood with a lot of things to walk to. For example, due to the large number of residents from North Africa, there are many famous markets that sell fresh produce and products from Africa. It is definitely a less touristy area and a good place to practice French as the people here are very encouraging and more patient compared to the French speakers in the heavier tourist areas. One of my favorite places to visit was the Basilica of Sacré Coeur de Montmartre. This is yet another Catholic church and was completed in 1914. It is located at the top of the butte of Montmartre and it's not a very easy walk to get to. But it's worth it. There is a nice park around it to relax after climbing the many flights of stairs. It is also the second most popular tourist site after La Tour Eiffel which surprised me. The surrounding area
is also very nice such as the place du Tertre which hosts many painters as well as restaurants perfect for people watching while you have a glass of wine.

Finally, while looking for an Apple Store to help get my SIM card out, I stumbled upon Le Palais Garnier which is a national theater located in the 9th arrondissement. It was designed by architect Charles

Palais Garnier

Garnier and was finished in 1875. My favorite rooms were of course the Opera Library, but I also liked the Glacier Rotunda, which was stunning, the grand staircase (also stunning) and the performance hall.

Part 3: Institut d'études politiques de Paris

Upon coming to Sciences Po, I had no idea what to expect. Without ever seeing the campus, all I had to go off of was that it was in the heart of Paris and was very prestigious. Sciences Po is ranked number 3 in the world for their political science program. The school was established 1872 by Émile Boutmy. Fun fact, Sciences Po is the only institute of political science in France that can refer to itself as "Sciences Po." All the others have to add the name of the city afterwards. The campus is located in the 6th and 7th arrondissements and the center of the campus is located at 27 rue Saint-Guillaume. Between Saint-Guillaume and rue des Saints-Pères, there's a beautiful garden that's perfect for resting in between classes or eating lunch. One of my initial observations was that the library at Saint-Guillaume is a lot smaller than the library at UWM which is massive. It also has windows so you can see outside unlike Saint-Guillaume where I feel trapped.

Overall, my classes are interesting and enjoyable (except for my Saturday morning class. Why do the French allow class on Saturdays anyway?) My favorite class is my human security and other challenges in South Asia because it's a very small class so there's lots of good discussions. I also really enjoy my intro to humanitarian law class. The professor is really cool and does a lot of work on the ground in Syria and also works at the National Court of Asylum. Originally, I was also taking a Chinese class. However, the class was taught in French and my French levels were not high enough to keep up. I had expected the class to be taught in Chinese and if that was the case, I would've understood perfectly fine. What a problem to have.

Part 4: The Food

Rosé

What can I say about the food to do it justice? Firstly, the school lunches here are delicious and very cheap (only around 3 euros). I've also become quite the fan of croque monsieur which is funny because I don't like ham. However, I think the ham here is less salty so it is more tolerable. Anyway, a croque monsieur is a grilled cheese with ham and first began appearing in 1910. There's also a croque madame

La soupe à l'oignon from Cafe de Flore

which has an egg placed on top. Honestly, it's a grilled cheese so you can't go wrong. I've also been enjoying pain au chocolat for breakfast, la soupe à l'oignon (my favorite has been from Café de Flore), and lots of baguettes and fromage. The wine here is also good, but very strong. I've been trying all sorts of different types of Rosé and also have enjoyed this Riesling from Alsace. I don't know how I'm going to be able to drink wine in the US again since it won't be the same.

And that's all for now. I continue to explore and travel and learn as much as possible both inside the classroom and outside.

À bientôt!

Mara

P.S. More photos ;)