Day 1-2: Paris

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

I arrived in Paris on Monday morning after a direct flight from Minneapolis that went by rather quickly thanks to the good company of my friends Aml and Elijah. After a bit of waiting and delirium in the airport (a lot of “Big Goblin Energy” as Grace P. coined it), I was taken to our hotel in a car with Brennan, Sam, and Patric.

Our hotel was exactly how I imagined, with my room consisting of a white color pallet, two twin beds, a small desk, the bathroom, and a balcony big enough to stand on — quite quaint.

During an afternoon stroll around the neighborhood, I had my first interactions with the perfumey Paris streets lined by kiosks selling prints, antique nicknacks, and books. The significance that this scene holds for me lies in its juxtaposition to my previous experiences of street side vendors back home, where kiosks sell rather “kitschy” souvenirs. (Granted, I’ve still come across several storefronts that resemble the souvenir shops I have grown well accustomed to.) It was during this walk that I also had my first heartbreaking glimpse of the Notre Dame, woefully stitched together by towering scaffolding and framed by a 15 foot tall barricade.

I spent the day in good spirits, until my sleep deprivation finally caught up to me as I sat down for our first group dinner at a small bar & grill type restaurant down the street from our hotel. The veggie omelet I ordered was delicious, but it didn’t have my full attention, as I sat for most of the meal in a daze staring out at the street. When I finally was able to crawl into bed, I laid there discouraged and exhausted.

Luckily, I woke up in much better spirits this morning. Our group’s excited voices bounced off the walls of the small breakfast room, as we fueled ourselves on croissants and espresso. Then, we were broken into small groups and set off on a scavenger hunt across the city. We saw more during this 5 hour adventure than I thought possible in the whole time we were here. Before heading out on our scavenger hunt, my group and I made a game plan to take the metro out to the Arc de Triomphe and visit the other destinations on our walk back to the hotel. During this adventure I was able to see the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Luxor Obelisk, Louvre, etc. More detailed post on that adventure coming soon!

We returned to our hotel and gathered as a group, filling the lobby for our first class period of the trip. We all shared our adventures from the morning and began a discussion on UNESCO and the United States’ current position with the organization. Tomorrow we are visiting UNESCO headquarters where we will have a meeting with the people who are working to improve education across the globe.

After class, we headed out as a group to tour the Paris Catacombs. Together we walked the dark tunnels far beneath the city listening to our personal audio tours. Overall, the catacombs were haunting. I left struggling between whether or not I felt that the two million people buried there were being valued and honored with this exhibit or simply exploited.

Dinner consisted of a delicious Mediterranean vegetable wrap and raspberry blood orange sorbet with friends.

Tonight, I ventured out with a group to see the Eiffel Tower at night. As the tower began to shimmer, it captured everyone’s attention. But as beautiful as it was, in that moment I was even more so captured by the beautiful friendships that were being created. (Cheesy, I know.) On our walk back, Zibby, Annika, and I stopped for some European McDonalds. It was exactly what we needed in that moment.

Cheers to the start of all of these wonderful friendships.

Sincerely,

Solveig