Author: Alina van den Berg

Admittedly, I didn’t do much traveling last semester, beyond the program excursions and an end-of-year trip with my parents to Amsterdam. But I saved up enough that this semester I’ll be able to do some nice trips during the week we get free in February and then again the week in April.

Trying to budget and choose where to go can be a little overwhelming at first, but I sat down and made a list of possible places, and then narrowed it down to the four places I want to visit the most. There are also weekends if you want to travel more, and in one week you can do several countries, but I chose to separate two places per break so I can properly explore places.

I kept an eye out for low cost opportunities and eventually found super cheap tickets, so on Sunday I’ll be heading to Scotland and then on Thursday, Prague! I’m going to get to see some friends as well, which is lovely. Same thing for April break: I’ll be heading to Morocco and then Portugal to visit a friend from Hamilton studying abroad. It feels kind of insane to have the opportunity to visit so many amazing places, and I still can’t quite believe it.

And in all honesty, simply getting to live in Paris is already amazing. Even if I couldn’t travel anywhere else, the experience of living in such an iconic city would have been plenty. There are ups and downs, of course, but I’m still very grateful.

It’s starting to get slightly warmer in Paris and the semester is finally underway. That also means that the dreaded “exposés” have started–essentially, oral presentations in French, usually in front of a bunch of native French speakers. Fun times.

This past weekend the semester students were off visiting Marseille with the program, and nearly all the annual students ended up heading to Reid Hall to “study” and “prepare” their exposés (I put those two words in quotes because although some of that did indeed happen, it did eventually dissolve into most of us watching the musical parts of Shrek 2 in the Reid Hall library).

First semester I hung out quite a bit at Reid Hall, but this time around I’m barely there, so it’s nice to see everyone together every once in a while (hot tip: try and find other study places in Paris beyond Reid Hall. Cafes are expensive, but the libraries are a good alternative. When it’s warm, parks!). We all definitely miss the Fall semester students. One thing that hasn’t changed though, is that we all still go to Carrefour for lunch, and I’ve developed the unfortunate habit of only paying in coins. I never spent by 5 cent coins last semester and now I’m having to catch up. Nothing is as stressful as having to hand over 2384798684626423 5 cent coins to pay for your salad and having to watch the cashier count all of them, feeling the resentful waves coming from the french people waiting behind you in line. I’m sorry y’all.

I have a good feeling about my classes this semester though. I’m taking “L’émancipation des femmes” and “Documentaire francophone” at Reid Hall, as well as a Masters Lit class at Paris 3 and a figure drawing course at an art studio called La Villa Bastille. The art course specially has been amazing, even though it’s on saturday–the studio is very cozy and the general ambiance is pretty relaxed and lowkey. I definitely recommend trying to take classes like painting or dance while studying in Paris. You’ll have to write and eight page paper about it at the end of the semester, in addition to the class work, but it’s definitely a cool experience.

Something I really love about living in a city like Paris: variety of food! There are so many options and it’s honestly very possible to never repeat a restaurant.

Paris is a pricey city and I can’t eat out super often, but I love that whenever I can, it’s always something new. Most of the time our host families provide dinner, but once a week we have a free night to have dinner out in the city—it can be anything, from cheap street stand crêpes, to fancy tea houses.

Even on a budget, I’ve been able to have some really amazing meals. Theoretically, you could probably try and eat a different country’s food every weekend, but if you’re visiting Paris or a student living here, it’s definitely worth trying out the traditional French “brasserie,” even if just for the experience—they’re usually huge places, open all day long and always busy. “Bouillon Chartier” is a pretty cheap one on Montparnasse, and I definitely recommend it.

The cool thing about Reid Hall, the building where the Hamilton Program runs out of (HQ, if you will), is that they also have this big pinboard in the study room full of restaurant and café recommendations. And honestly, the best thing you can do to try and find a cool place to eat, is to talk to people! Other students and even the people who work at Reid Hall have tried all sorts of places, and chances are they’ll have some good tips. The building is located in the Montparnasse area, which is pretty touristy, but even amidst the pricier places there are a bunch that are very student-friendly.

One thing though: the Hamilton program doesn’t cover lunch, so you do have to hunt and forage for it yourself. There are student dining halls for university people scattered across Paris, and those are pretty cheap, as well as Carrefours in every neighborhood, so it’s pretty easy to find affordable options. What I like to do though, is do my groceries on the weekend and then just prepare my own lunch every day before going to classes. It’s easier on my wallet and this way I can actually eat somewhere cool on the weekend while staying within my budget.

Alright, so. First semester in France was a bit like this:

I mean, quite a lot more happened, but if you tilt your head a bit to the side and squint, that’s the general gist of it.

Semester 1 students have left, semester 2 students have arrived, annual students have aged 52 years in the span of a month, as people have been striking and we haven’t had much access to public transport. But the upside to all the stress has been that in lieu of the metros, priests have been riding around on electric scooters and my idle brain finds it quite funny.

Another good thing that my stressed and idle brain enjoys about this second semester is that my French has improved significantly, and I have finally, finally stopped sounding like this:

At the bakery, speaking French.

Lady behind the counter: Morning, what can I do for ya?

Me, with an accent: good morrow madam, pardon me, but may I request a small morsel of the baked good in the upmost right corner, next to the wheat product? Much obliged.

I’ve also tried enough movie theaters that I’ve figured out which ones I like best and which ones make popcorn the day before and simply keep it locked under the counter overnight, only to lightly warm it before giving it to you, like it’s the most normal thing in the world (they really did that…while I watched…the confidence…).

Anyway, if anyone else beyond my roommate reads these, and you think you might want to do the Hamilton in France program: the main Hamilton building is essentially on Montparnasse, which is a main street full of cafes, shops and yes, movie theaters. There are some nice indie ones like Les 7 Parnassiens, but also some big more blockbuster-y types. If you just want to chill and watch Knives Out for the 4^th time, I’d go to the Gaumont Parnasse (côté Parnasse) theater, because they have a wide selection and some really nice chairs. I definitely recommend going to smaller cinemas though, especially the quirkier ones like Le Champo, which mostly shows older films.

As classes just started last week, not much has happened so far, but I’m excited for this new semester. My neighbor’s devil child has stopped trying to trip me every time we walk past each other in the hallway and my host mom sometimes remembers that I’m lactose intolerant before serving cheese soup for dinner, so small steps (I’m honestly joking, it’s been lovely).

Something I did not expect to get out of studying abroad: actual and unencumbered free time. I know, I’m stunned. I don’t have any classes on Fridays, and although this is perfect for quick trips to other countries, it’s also great for doing literally all your homework and then having the entire weekend to do whatever you want.

I’m staying in Paris for the whole year, and consequently have the privilege to space out my traveling a little bit more, so I’ve also been using the weekends to explore the different Parisian districts. I can get into most museums for free thanks to the Hamilton in France program and my student status, and I’ve made it my mission to find a really interesting independent-cinema movie theater. Whenever I can afford it, I’ll simply walk around a neighborhood, find a tiny movie theater, walk in and watch whichever film they’re screening in the next half an hour or so. It’s led to some interesting experiences–in the last few of weeks I ended up watching a German-Azerbaijan film called The Bra (which I hated) and a French one called Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (which I really enjoyed), as well as a couple of others. It’s mostly older folks that populate these places, and many times they stay a little longer after the film is done just to discuss it. It’s kinda great. At one point I stumbled into a theater that had a one-time deal of movie tickets for only four euros. Honestly, I could really get used to this whole five-movie-theaters-per-street thing Paris has going on.

Another cool thing about these free weekends: field trips! Hamilton in France has been super nice about organizing field trips for us. The other week we got to go to Versailles, and take a “VIP tour”–which essentially meant that we got to see more of the nook and crannies of the château that you wouldn’t normally get to see on a self-guided tour. The whole thing was amazing. I got a crick on my neck from permanently staring up at the ceilings of the place.

There was also a beautiful, beautiful garden, that seemed to stretch on forever. There was a forest and an actual lake. I very much felt like I was in one of those period pieces, running around the gardens and down marble staircases, with not a worry in the world but court gossip and my possible marriage to a foreign head of state.

I’m definitely keeping an eye out for cheap flights and bus tickets so I can do some traveling on my own as well, but it’s nice that we got to do a little tourism around here too–we took the RER to Versailles, which was quick and easy with our metro cards.

In other news: I’ve been here for a little over a month and still keep committing the most annoying faux pas. For example, there is math involved in what greeting one should use when running into someone you know, or when walking into a store–if it’s earlier than 5 PM, you should probably use bonjour, but after 6 or 7 PM, bonsoir is recommended…except that’s not always the case. Sometimes you just say bonjour all the time…except when it’s already dark outside. Anyway. It might seem like a silly worry, but that’s only if you have not been severely judged by an elderly french lady for accidentally saying bonsoir madame at the wrong time.

So yeah, you can find me digging a hole by the closed-off playground in the Luxembourg gardens, where I will be burying myself and never coming out until the sun dies and it’s dark all the time and I can just use bonsoir no matter what times it is.

-Alina

Alright, so.

I’ve been in France for a whole month now, and I can confidently say that I have never, in my entire life, eaten this many baguettes. They’re everywhere. My friends have started sending me tips on how to adequately adapt to this new baguette onslaught, including a Baguette Pack™–a bread-shaped backpack to fulfill all my bread-erly needs. Thanks guys.

Things have been interesting so far! The whole you-must-speak-french-at-all-times-or-you-will-die thing can be a little overwhelming at times, but I’ve already reached a point where I can hold entire conversations in French without wanting to crawl into a deep dark hole afterwards–which, by the way, is a vast improvement from the first week of orientation in Biarritz. The memory of the first dinner with my Biarritz host family, and it’s long stretches of absolute silence, will probably haunt me for some time.

I’m now living with my host family in Paris, and I’m really enjoying it so far. My living situation is a little different than most students in the Hamilton in France program: instead of living in the apartment with the host family, I live in a separate room six floors above them! It’s tiny, but I have my own shower and a baby kitchen. Another student in the program lives in the actual apartment with them, and I go down in the evenings to eat dinner with them. My neighbors seem to be mostly students, and the walls are very thin, so there are times that I feel like I’m right back in a Hamilton dorm room. Except it’s all in french.

The apartment is also very conveniently located in the seventh/fifteenth arrondissement division– I’m a ten minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse and Les Invalides. Sometimes I’ll be heading to the grocery store and I’ll casually glance over my shoulder only to see the Eiffel Tower, and I have to pinch myself. There’s also a nice park area in front of the apartment, and there are always people there–runners, children, yoga people, dogs, couples, some more dogs. At night, it gets pitch dark, but towards the end of the week teenagers like hanging out there (it’s actually a little funny that they don’t even use their phone flashlights).I’ve also kinda fallen in love with the metro. I know that sounds a bit weird, especially since it smells like pee a lot of the time and it’s always a little sweaty, but it keeps me from having to walk an hour to class, gives me nearly unlimited access to all of Paris, and gives me free time to read. I take the 6th a lot and I love it–it’s rickety on the outside, but it goes above ground and I get to see Paris on the way to class. I also end up seeing a lot of interesting people! For example, this girl that was full of coincidences:

I’m still adapting to classes and the mammoth that is the french education system, but that’s a whole other post.

-Alina