The Best Nap I Ever Had - July 18

Being young and in Paris usually means that I will stay out past midnight and I was definitely feeling that today. I went to bed late and woke up early, but knew I could probably stay awake for the duration of our trip. My classmates and I were off on a tour of a Parisian suburb called Belleville.

We took the metro over and met up with our tour guide, Kevi. He led us around the area and taught us a little about its history. Belleville was added on as a suburb but used to be a village beforehand. Today, it has a large immigrant population and appears less glamorous than the picture-perfect postcard many people see from Paris. It has a fresh fruit market with vendors sweet-talking patrons into buying fruit. It was covered in street art and decals along the walls. It was also quite hilly and provided an incredible view of the city. It was quite a unique experience to be able to see a not-so-tourist-heavy view of Paris.

Our tour covered heavy topics such as racism in Paris and the European perception of slavery and reparations. Comparing and contrasting it to American ideals was certainly interesting. We walked and talked for hours and all enjoyed the intellectual discussions spawned by the tour.

After our tour concluded, we headed back to the market and shopped around. I bought 3.2 kilograms of fresh watermelon for 4 euros. For context, that’s about 7 pounds of local watermelon for less than 5 dollars. My friend Mia and I then went to some little boutiques and shopped the local fashion. I bought a cute top with matching pants to wear for a later date. Once we finished shopping, we went to a local park to eat our watermelon. When I say it was the best watermelon I have ever had I’m not exaggerating. It was perfectly sweet and juicy and it was absolutely massive. Some other classmates ran into us at the park and we shared it with them. The watermelon was so delicious that I drank the juice out of the crevices made by digging into it. Eating fresh fruit from a local market is something I will gladly do again.

We ate the fresh fruit and then made our way up the top of the hill to soak in the sun. Many other students joined us and shared snacks and conversations. We snacked and joked and some even climbed the trees around us. It was incredible. We had climbed so much but now we had to get down the hill. Most of us slowly made our way down but we noticed our classmate, Hannah, was already down there. She had unfortunately taken a fall down the hill and hit her arm on the impact. We all clamored around to make sure she was okay. Using some quick thinking skills and creativity, I made a sling for her out of the pants I had just bought. Since she was in a lot of pain, a few of us offered to take her in an Uber back to the hotel so she could rest and make sure our professor could help her out. Despite this not being the ideal situation, I am so glad I could help make sure she was okay.

Hannah ended up with a couple of bruises and put her hand in a demobilizer to help it heal. After making sure she was okay, my classmate, Mia, and I went to a local restaurant to debrief about the whole affair. We ate some incredible fried chicken and then treated ourselves to some of the best gelato I have ever had, complete with a chocolate-covered waffle cone. It was all incredible but I was certainly entering a food coma.

We made our way back to the hotel, ready to rest for a few minutes before venturing out again. Since I had nothing planned, I decided to lay in bed and work on this blog for a few moments. The moment my body hit the mattress I knew I was exhausted. If you know me, you know I hate taking naps. However, in this moment, I knew there was nothing I wanted more than to close my eyes for five minutes and relax. That five minutes quickly turned into two hours. I don’t even remember falling asleep but I woke up to the cool air blowing through the window and the sound of people walking by. I felt so refreshed and ready for the day. It was genuinely the best nap I ever had.

Now that I was once again awake, I finally opened my laptop and worked on my blog for an hour or so. Since it was starting to get dark, I looked for some fun things to do to enjoy the Parisian nightlife. My professor recommended that some of us check out the local jazz clubs, so I invited friends to check them out with me. I put on a cute dress and heels (definitely a mistake) and went out on the town.

The place we chose to go to was called Caveau de la Huchette. Unbeknownst to me, this jazz club was featured in the movie La La Land! We went in and excitedly checked it out. The dance floor was in the basement of the building and as soon as we went down the spiral staircase, I knew it would be fun. It was stuffy and crowded but so lively and roaring with fun. I sat back and took it all in for a few moments before making my way to the dance floor. The band played an incredible jazz set, full of upbeat tempos and instrumental solos. I had a blast moving to the music and enjoying myself. We were there for about two hours before deciding to reign it in. I had never been to a nightclub before, let alone a jazz club, so this was certainly a fun experience.

We left the club and headed back to the hotel. My feet were so sore from a combination of dancing and walking in heels along the cobblestone streets, but I loved it. Some of the other girls decided to head back out to another fun spot. I am not much of a party girl so one club was more than enough excitement for me. I came back to the room to relax and get ready for another day of fun. Maybe someday I will stay out until 6 in the morning, partying and dancing all night. For now, I am just excited that I got to stay out for a little while and see something new.

♡ Katie