Submitted by Sophia Vassar on the 2018 winter session study abroad program France sponsored by the Department of English…
When I arrived, the sky washed with gray tones and decorated with veins of blue sunshine, greeted me as I stepped off the massive plane from New York. It was cold, the type of cold that pales you as you walk with each hesitant step forward.
I did not go to Paris on a whim. Like many, I have romanticized Paris since I was a little girl by dreaming of wearing a yellow beret and jumper accompanied by the classic navy blue bow, just as Madeline had done in Paris. As a young girl, I would ask my mother to read me the Madeline book series every night in the hope that Madeline’s adventure in Paris would transfer to my dreams that night.
As adolescence faded, the need for Paris did not. Every literary work or movie that attracted me always seemed to pertain to life in Paris. The descriptions of the beautiful architecture and cityscape of Paris immediately drew me in. Yet, that was not enough, I knew that no author or cinematographer could depict the vast beauty as well as a tangible experience could.
Studying in Paris was in the forefront of my mind. I desperately wanted to go before the rapidness of post graduation hits and the bombs of unsubsidized loans land at my door. The university I attend is known for great study abroad programs and there was a perfect program going to Paris in the winter of 2018.
Anxiously awaiting a response from the university, I finally found out I was admitted for that upcoming winter session. I felt like I had found a missing piece of my life that had been misplaced since I was a little girl reading Madeline without even realizing it had left.
After a week of getting acclimated in a new city, I felt the familiarity of Paris. The metro became easier and getting around became enjoyable. Being comfortable in a city where I do not speak the native language is a bit strange, but contrary to most people’s opinions, I find Paris inviting.
Falling in love with Paris is easy, easier than I ever imagined. The clichés of Paris follow you down each cobblestoned street lit from the twinkling lights above like you are the main character of each overdone movie. But it is true, simply walking down the city streets parallel to the Seine River you are transformed by the romanticism each movie tries so hard to depict.
Before attending this program, I knew two girls, Rachel and Kristen. Having them on this journey with me gave me a sense of security while exploring Paris that I may not have had if I went alone like so many other students do. Rachel is extremely kind and confident, exactly the kind of person you want to travel to a foreign county with and I could not have asked for a better person to experience the Eiffel Tower’s glow with anyone else.
On a cloudy Tuesday morning, our student group of about fifteen students headed to the Eiffel Tower. I am sure it was spectacle for the Parisians walking by as the line of eager faces headed to the ticket booth. Relieved, we did not have to walk up the Eiffel Tower to the first and second floors, our group enters a transparent box elevator that allows its guests to study the vast architectural beauty of the tower. As we exit the elevator to the second floor, Rachel and I look at each other in awe. Rachel screams and says, “It is unbelievable!” I quickly agree and we head to the ledge to take it all in.
The view is a sea of grey rooftops accompanied by their beige base and the hectic traffic screeching from down below. The sheer ability to see the size of the city is overwhelming and gave me a sense of enthusiasm as I thought about all the possibility that lies below me. I thought about the simple things like men writing poetry with a warm espresso in their hands doing just as so many great men have done before them, about the young school girls running around the Luxembourg Gardens not yet aware of the rare beauty surrounding them and of the couples falling in love over and over again as it can so easily happen walking the dim lit streets of this city.
I did not yet have my moment. The moment you read about and almost expect coming to Paris, even if you cannot exactly articulate this moment which you are looking for.
As the day turned to night, a group of six of us all of a sudden stumbled upon the Eiffel Tower lit up, giving the city an indescribably beautiful golden glow to all of its surroundings. Unexpectedly, the golden tower began to twinkle in the moonlight and this was my moment. A wave of emotion hit me and I was stunned. Involuntary tears streamed down my face and the feeling of gratitude overcame me as I took in the fact that I was standing in Paris among good friends watching the most spectacular view I had every seen. The feeling of genuine happiness and proudness that I have dreamed of this moment and I had worked so hard to get to Paris made it all worth it. Every stressful conversation about finances and my future did not matter in that moment. No amount of money could ever re-create that feeling. In that moment, I was content.