July 20 - American in Paris

It has been 10 days since I arrived and now I am truly feeling acclimated to it all. I’m an American in Paris and I’m loving my time here.

To begin our day, we had another tour with Kevi. This would be our last tour with him. The plan was to take a motor coach to the Château Monte Cristo and spend a few hours there. Well, that did not go quite as planned. Our motor coach was about half an hour late to pick us up from our meeting spot. We waited outside and spent that time playing around and taking pictures. When the coach finally arrived, I took a nap before our adventure began. Since this is the busy season in Paris, the roads were filled with cars. The traffic and sheer volume of people trying to get around added even more time to our trip. By the time we finally arrived at our destination, we only had less than an hour to look around.

Despite this setback, we still managed to have a nice time. We toured the gardens and discussed Alexander Dumas, the owner of the house and the author of The Count of Monte Cristo. In the gardens, we saw large sculptures such as a gorilla and an ant as part of a unique art installation. We saw memorabilia from his books and even musketeer costumes from adaptations of his book, the Three Musketeers. It was nice to explore and see the unique artifacts.

After our short exploration, we got back on the motor coach to head to Paris. We were maybe five minutes away from where the bus picked us up when we realized we were one student short. Everyone frantically called around until we realized that our classmate, Chrys, never made it on the bus. We called her and met her at the bus stop where we had stopped. After the slight scare of losing a student, we all safely made our way back to the city.

Once in the city, we got off the bus and said our goodbyes to Kevi. He was truly an amazing guide and I’m so glad that he was with us for so long. After leaving him, we went to a fancy shopping center called Galeries Lafayette. We walked the floors and explored the luxury shops. It was gorgeous and if I had the money to spend there I would have. On the top of the building, many of my classmates sat on the rooftop and enjoyed the view. It was truly gorgeous to soak in the city.

Many of us were hungry and dispersed for the day. My friend Mia and I decided to explore the area near the luxury shops and ended up trying the French version of American things. We went to a Starbucks and it was genuinely the prettiest Starbucks I have ever seen. It looked like a museum and had the richest scents of coffee. Mia and I got drinks and sat in the grand dining area. This was the first time I had an iced coffee since arriving in Paris and I’m a bit of an addict so it was delicious. Mia got a strawberry frappe that was so refreshing and delicious since it wasn’t quite as processed as the ones in the United States. I needed a bit of an American refresh to make me appreciate all of the French things around me.

Since we were in an American mood, we decided to try out McDonald’s here. I personally am not a fan of McDonald’s but I was still excited. I ordered some chicken nuggets and potato wedges since they were different than the normal fries. It was all pretty decent and it was a nice break from the sheer amount of pastries I’ve been consuming, even if it is still not the healthiest.

After our American afternoon, we walked back to the hotel to refresh and ready ourselves for more adventures. I cleaned up my mess in the hotel room and then decided to take myself on a walk around the neighborhood to drop off some postcards. Along the way, I checked out some boutiques and fun shops nearby. I ended up in a little clothing store and was immediately drawn to a sparkly dress in the back. The pink dress on the sales rack called me. It was the last one in the shop, half off, and in my size. It felt like it was meant to be. I bought it and immediately wanted to put it on and show it off.

I asked classmates to see if anyone planned to go out that night. A large group of girls wanted to go dancing so I decided to join them. I put on a little bit of makeup and put on my new dress and went out. We all went to this little spot near our hotel and had a blast dancing to the music and meeting new people. I was the “designated adult” for the night and so I helped make sure everyone was alright and taking care of themselves. We stayed there for a while, enjoying the Parisian nightlife and seeing that the city truly never sleeps. Everyone partied hard until 1 in the morning and then we all made the short walk back to our hotel. I had a good time and although I didn’t really party, I still liked getting out and having fun. It was truly thrilling to feel so young and beautiful in a foreign country with a group of my friends.

♡ Katie