This weekend, my friend Evan came to visit in-between his study abroad adventures (Spain and Australia). It was really fun to revisit some of the places we have been in class and also explore new parts of Paris! We were able to go to the Picasso Museum, Maison de Victor Hugo, Eiffel Tower (for the photos), Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre (all new so far). We hit most of the major monuments for Paris tourists, but we were able to chat a lot about our study abroad experiences thus far.
Over the course of the weekend, we remarked on the things that we have appreciated abroad compared to the United States. For one, the eating culture. It’s been fun to be able to sit down for meals and not be rushed at all, everyone expects for you to be there for at least two hours and have full conversations over meals. We also had a picnic in the park, and observed many other people doing the same thing; all you need is some cheese, bread, and conversation! Another note we had was the transportation. I come from DC with the Metro and my friend Evan lives in Texas, which has minimal public transit. We remarked on the efficiency, general access of public transit (the stops are closeby), and how easy it is to navigate even if you don’t know the language. We also discussed the green spaces in Paris. While MICEFA went to Versailles, I recommended that my friend go to the Jardins du Luxembourg because we enjoyed them so much when we went for class (and went back after class). We talked about how there aren’t too many public parks where people can just hang out with multiple places to sit and hang out, either in the sun or shade, with others in the United States. The main comparison we could make was Central Park in New York, as it is inside the city itself and able to be accessed by most people in the city. We couldn’t think of too many other places that have the amount of public parks that Europe has had, and specifically Paris. It seems as though you could get to a decent park relatively easily in Paris, and they’re all pretty well maintained. Now, we’re not saying that there’s zero green space in the US, but just that our green spaces could be improved and used more effectively.
We had a running joke about whether Spain or France liked Picasso more, but observed overall that the European vibe is similar in the two places. It was a very enjoyable weekend to converse about the perks of Europe, and how different it can be from the United States, but also how grateful we are that we will have these experiences to look back on, as well as the adventures to continue taking.
The main upside of the US is the air conditioning, what a warm weekend!
Au Revoir from Ellie in Paris
Love this post! I’m so glad you had such a fun weekend with your friend. I think it truly is amazing how efficient public transportation is here. I really wish we had something like this back home. I live in NOVA, so I’m very close to the metro and adore it, but the way Europe is so interconnected through trains is just amazing. I love it so much, and the signage they have at each metro station has been top-tier for navigation.