Bonjour à tous! It has officially been 2 weeks (almost) in Paris, and I feel like I am learning new things every single day. Every day here is like a new adventure, where I’m not quite sure what I’m gonna encounter or where I’m going to end up. The possibilities are seriously endless!
Let’s go through a quick recap of the week. As much as I’d love to go hour by hour each day, I don’t want to bore my blog readers too much. Okay, where should I begin… Tuesday! After being a bit overwhelmed on the first day of my internship on Monday, I was able to settle in on day two, meet a few more coworkers, and dive into my first task, which was translating some scientific documents on how D-LAB’s products are tested! It was a slow day, but a comforting one, and I was happy to begin my work and focus on performing well rather than the whirlwind of meeting new people and catching meetings! Later that night, I met up with some friends for dinner and got the best pasta I’ve ever had in my entire life: truffle gnocchi. It was unreal, you just have to trust me. Of course, I ended my day with a FaceTime to the fam, and home I went! It was a very fulfilling day!
Wednesday is when the busyness returns. The third day of my internship included many meetings with my manager and the communications team I will work with all summer! It was very nice to meet everyone on the team and get to know them! Although I still have trouble contributing to conversations due to the language barrier, I’ve already learned so much from sitting and listening, simultaneously jotting down the words and phrases I don’t know to familiarize myself. Hopefully, in a few weeks, I’ll be able to regularly contribute to meetings and work conversations! Because it was the last day at work before a 4-day weekend, I had to prioritize my time wisely, making sure to finish my translated documents, attend my meetings, and ask my manager for anything else that needed to be done before the week ended. Overall, while still adjusting to the work environment, it was a good day! After work, I rushed through the Paris metro traffic home to pack a bag and meet some family who were staying in Paris this week! It was awesome being able to spend time with the people I love, eat some good food, and stay with them for the night! Despite it being a busy day, it was still super fun. If you can’t tell by now, I like keeping busy!
Thursday is where the real fun begins! My roommate from Pitt and her cousins were coming to visit me in Paris, and of course, I had to make the weekend special! We went to the Louvre bright and early Thursday morning, wandered around for a few hours (and didn’t even make a dent in the place cause it’s so huge), and walked around le Jardin des Tuileries in the afternoon. An old friend of mine happened to also be in Paris this weekend, so I rushed home to change and meet her at dinner in le Marais (one of my personal favorite areas of Paris so far)! It was a lovely evening being able to catch up and eat a yummy dinner (poke bowl… so bomb), and it was overall an amazing day. I stayed with my roommate in their Airbnb for the night and got much-needed rest for the weekend ahead.
Okay, I’ll try and do a speedrun of Friday and Saturday… I feel like I’m rambling! Friday was hot hot hot… 85 degrees and sunny, so we had to take it slow and have several rest/water pit stops while traversing the city. We hopped on the Batobus first, stopped at the Eiffel Tower (of course), then walked up to the Trocadéro for a beautiful view of Paris and a delicious lunch! We made our way through the streets of the 16th Arrondissement until we got to L’Arc de Triomphe, where we admired the view and sat down to recharge (that’s what 85-degree weather does to you). Being the dedicated tourists we are, we pushed through the heat and walked down the Champs-Elysées, all admiring the many pairs of shoes in the giant Adidas store that we can’t afford. Maybe I’ll buy them later as a going-away gift… do shoes count as a souvenir? We made our way to dinner, where we ate at a cute little restaurant called Little Nonna and had delicious pizzas. Of course, because we just can’t be stopped, we walked all the way back to the Eiffel Tower one last time to finish our pizza and see her light up at night (Is the Eiffel Tower a girl? It just feels right to call her a she). After taking a million pictures and staring up at her until my neck got a cramp, we finally headed home and recharged for the next day. Yep, the weekends not over yet!
Saturday was one of my favorite days here so far. My roommate and I walked around le Marais, got cute little charm bracelets with matching charms of L’Arc de Triomphe, and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. We eventually made our way to Montmartre (I insisted we go), and went to Sacre-Coeur, got cute pictures in the viral photobooth, walked around the local flea market, and ate the best crepes I’ve ever had at Crêperie Brocéliande. I mean, seriously, it was the type of meal where you just sit in silence to eat because the food is so good. We eventually met up with the rest of our group later at Notre-Dame, got some touristy “I heart Paris” t-shirts to commemorate our weekend, ate some escargots at dinner, and got some gelato (I think my gelato count is up to 5 by now). Finally, we ended our night at Le Caveau de la Huchette, a popular jazz club that’s known for being featured in La La Land! It was super cool to see live jazz and dance around, despite it being in an 80-degree basement cellar. It’s for the experience! Once out of the jazz club (which I will be returning to), we walked into the streets to see what seemed like the entire city of Paris celebrating PSG winning the Champions League final! There were fireworks, music, dancing, cheering, honking, and just about every form of celebration you could imagine. It felt like the Super Bowl! It was definitely an entertaining journey home, as I think I cheered along with 20 separate cars on our walk to the metro. Overall, it was an absolutely amazing weekend, and a Sunday of rest is in order to recharge for the week ahead.
Well, until next week! Let’s see what else Paris has to offer little ole me this week! Au revoir!
Hailey Krawczyk