I love Paris!

“Paris is always a good idea.” -Audrey Hepburn

    I love Paris!! :) So I have been here 4 days and I’ve adjusted from the jet lag and started settling into daily life in Paris. It really helps that I’ve lived in France before so the food is not a shock, the people are not a shock, and the Metro came back to me really quickly so I’m navigating the city like a pro. Got my Navigo card that makes the Metro super easy… No daily tickets to buy, no worries about train transfers, no worries about trying to keep track of your ticket so you can get out after you get in. Yes! In order to get out of the Metro sometimes you need your ticket you used to get on the Metro. Most people don’t know that their first time here.

    So far everyone from the Dallas DFW airport, to New York City’s JFK, to the Charles de Gaulle airport, and everyone in the city of Paris has been really nice and super helpful. Again I am lucky I speak French fluently so my experience here is far different from those who do not and do not know where they are going. I arrived in Paris Sunday night and am staying at an AirBnB apartment for the next 2 weeks until school starts. AirBnB is great because you get to stay at a local Parisian apartment instead of a hotel and you have a local Parisian to help you with whatever you need. Margaux is so nice! 

    I’ve been in contact with the school to let them know I am here. I needed to ask them about orientation and a lot of weird emails I got about medical exams and immigration status that I now know I don’t have to do. Tomorrow I am going to find the student services center and meet with my counselor so I can get a head start on orientation since I am already here. I can’t wait to see my options for a permanent apartment. 

    I am happy to say my cat, Dazie Mae, is doing much better now. She did great on all of the flights as usual but once we got here she was hiding under the bed from all the strange noises. She’s used to quiet suburban Plano in north Dallas, so loud, busy Paris with it’s strange sights, smells, and sounds was quite a shock at first. She is happily playing on the rooftops now and no longer runs under the bed whenever car tires screech or a truck goes by. I do have to say the ambulance sirens here are a bit harsh on the ears. No doubt you can hear them coming from miles away. 

    So far I’ve only been to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées, and generally just around town getting used to living in Paris. I’ll write more about the touristy stuff later. Right now I’m loving being a resident not a tourist… going to the bakery and the grocery store, walking and taking the Metro wherever I need to go, and avoiding most of the tourist places until school gets in session, the international tourists go home, and it’s not so crowded. For the month of August, most of Paris leaves to spend a few weeks at their country homes so they’ll be back but the tourists will be gone.

    I am almost done with my summer reading. I had to read Authentic by Sarah Banet-Weiser and Global Communication by Thomas McPhail. Both fascinating books on capitalism, social branding, social media, public diplomacy, foreign relations and other interesting topics related to my Masters in Global Communication. I know I am going to love my classes at the American University here in Paris. Honestly, I am really excited to be a graduate student here in Paris. Not many people ever get the chance to come to Paris, and certainly not everyone gets their Masters, so really it’s incredible to be here in Paris getting my Masters. The job possibilities when I graduate are endless! 

    Orientation doesn’t start until the 1st of September so until then I’ll simply be hanging out in Paris enjoying not being in Dallas anymore!