Hello! Welcome back, my loyal readers! Another amazing week in Paris has passed, and I am beyond excited to tell you all about it.
Honestly, my week started off tame. I had to do a much-needed reset after getting back from Italy at midnight on Sunday, so Monday, I worked from home and prepared for the upcoming week. Monday night was peaceful; I found a huge park only a 30-minute walk away from my apartment, and I’m already excited to go back and sit there on my nights after work. I ended up sitting there for hours, listening to a podcast, eating the world’s largest macaron (not really, but it was seriously huge), and updating my scrapbook with the little things I collected in the past week. I’ll have to insert a picture for you to get the vibe… my friends and I call it the “trash journal”. It’s been a fun little activity these past few weeks!
Wednesday, EUSA hosted a pizza party for us after work, and it was nice to catch up with everyone to see how their internships are going, how their time in Paris has been, and talk about our little weekend trips! Thank you, Jon and Ernest, for the yummy pizza and recommendations for Karaoke bars in Paris (when the time comes, I will be performing Vienna by Billy Joel in front of the Parisians, I just have to build up the courage). After pizza, my friends and I went to a little restaurant in the Latin Quarter and just hung out for a bit, trying to enjoy our time together before being swept back into the whirlwind of our internships. We also got some amazing crepes from a stand down the street… nothing better than sugar, cinnamon, and butter wrapped in a pancake!
Speaking of spending time with friends, I would say one of the biggest challenges that I’ve had to adapt to in France is the busyness of every single day. Even though I would say my time management skills are already pretty good, being in Paris has taught me how to balance work and life differently. I think I’m starting to adapt to the work-life culture here, where I’m focused on getting my work done during the day, attending meetings, turning in my assignments on time, while also going out at night to spend time with my friends or just enjoy the city. On top of this, I’m trying to take trips to take advantage of my location, keep in touch with friends and family at home, grocery shopping, event planning… so much to do in such little time! Luckily, I am already used to being busy during school, and especially in the summer, but in Paris, I have had to adapt to a different kind of balance in work and social life.
Remember the aforementioned special guest of this week? Well, Thursday marked her arrival in Paris, and I was practically jumping out of my seat all day long, waiting to see her after work. Drum roll, please… MY MOM CAME TO VISIT! It feels like I waited months for her to finally get here, before I knew it, we were walking around Paris together on Thursday night,
Because she was here for such a limited time, we had to make sure to maximize every second of our long weekend. Thursday night, we walked around le marais, ate dinner at Frenchie Bar à Vin (well worth the wait, I will genuinely never forget their bacon scones), and spontaneously decided to take a boat ride along the Seine! We ended up going at the perfect time, right at sunset, and got to cruise along the river while the sun was going down. Despite the horrendous metro ride home (when is the metro ever not horrible?), it was a perfect start to the weekend.
Judging from our step count of 25,000 on Friday, we really packed our day in from sunup to sundown. We had a delicious, authentic French breakfast from a little spot near the hotel, walked around some more to enjoy Le Marais (one of my favorite neighborhoods), and trekked to my apartment after checkout to drop our bags and explore as much as possible before our 5:20 (or should I say 17:20) train to Nice! My mom met my host mom, Tania, and it was a delight seeing them interact and talk about me living in Paris (all good things, of course). We walked to the Luxembourg gardens, got some gelato, walked to the Pantheon, saw the Midnight in Paris steps (bucket list item), and had a yummy lunch in the area.
This is where things started to go downhill. Maybe we were just caught up in the Paris haze, but we did not leave ourselves enough time to get our bags and get to the train station. By the time we were on the metro to Gare de Lyon, we were going to arrive around 15 minutes before the train left. Not the best amount of time, but a bit too close for comfort… and then our metro broke down. My mom was convinced we weren’t going to make it, but I was determined. We grabbed our bags, ran to the RER, and rode that all the way to the station (with some sprinting, sweating, and swearing in between), and made it to our train with 2 minutes to spare. Yep, the train was going to leave in 2 minutes. The workers let us on, and by the time we got in our seats, we were panting, dripping sweat, and completely silent. We just had to take in what just happened. Honestly, I’m just proud of myself for navigating an alternative route to the train station after the metro broke down. I feel like I’m becoming a public transportation pro. Lesson learned: give yourself plenty of time to catch your train!
After our 5-hour train ride to Nice (which was actually a much-needed rest), we arrived at our hotel in the heart of Old Town. It was bustling with people and music, and we simply couldn’t go to bed without taking a lap and visiting the beach… screw sleep! But yes, we eventually did get back to the hotel to rest up for a busy Saturday.
Similar to Friday, we walked and walked and walked on Saturday. Our bodies definitely felt the exhaustion by the end of the night. We got breakfast, walked around the shops, went to the beach and swam in the clearest, bluest water I’ve ever seen, got lunch, took a rest, and embarked on a hike up the the top of Nice. We saw the waterfall, a cemetery, and a spectacular view of Nice, and it was probably our favorite part of the trip! Hiking also made us pretty hungry, and we eventually walked around some more and ate dinner at this place right by the beach. I finally got the seafood I was craving all trip, and wow… it did not disappoint. Who knew seabream was so delicious (I’ve never heard of it until now). Saturday was Fête de la Musique all across France, which is basically a nationwide musical festival/block party, where every street corner is filled with bands, DJs, and people dancing and celebrating! It was cool walking around and seeing all the different music, but eventually we got sick of the crowds and sat on the beach to enjoy the sunset and our last night in Nice. We really packed in everything we could!
On Sunday, we woke up bright and early to go to the beach and swim one last time. There was also a really cool vintage market right outside our hotel (that I honestly could’ve spent all day at), where we shopped and walked around, eventually ending our day with a yummy lunch at Diu Piu and gelato (4th of the trip). We were too freaked out by our previous train experience, so we made sure to get to the station with plenty of time to spare. We decided to binge-watch the new season of the Dallas Cowboys Documentary, so the train ride went pretty fast. Finally, once we arrived in Paris, we got to our hotel and discovered our fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower from our balcony! I wanted my mom to see her sparkle for the first time, so we rushed around the 15th, trying to find food, so we could go back up to eat on our terrace and enjoy the view. Regretfully, I did end up getting McDonald’s, but honestly, it really hit the spot. You just can’t go wrong with a burger and fries sometimes, even in Paris. Overall, it was an amazing weekend, even though our time isn’t over yet!
Stayed tuned for the rest of our adventure, and more Paris stories on next week’s blog! Thanks for listening 🙂
Au revoir!
Hailey Krawczyk