The decision to do this study abroad course was without question one of the best I’ve made in my college career. I’ve officially been home for 24 hours, and all I can think about is Paris. I’ve been making plans already for the next time. When I lost my bag, I was so sure the trip would be ruined for me. I was without medication, clothes, and a few other belongings. Close to $150 of the money for food and drinks were wasted on clothes that I didn’t want or need when my bag finally arrived. However, everything was figured out, I grew closer to friends I had from a previous class, and we found something exciting to do everyday. Even before my bag arrived, they helped so much by taking my mind off it.

Chase mentioned in her last post that the social atmosphere in Paris was a lot better than in Atlanta, and I completely agree. Maybe we were all just enchanted by the city. Even so, I adored the time spent in cafes or bakeries as a class or small groups. I will never forget the last class in the Luxembourg Gardens. I had never felt so happy and at peace before in a class discussion.

It’s hard to pick, but I think the Louvre was my favorite place we visited. A few days after we went as a class, I went through the museum alone, and I went back another day to the gardens. After the gardens, Ness, Alex, and I walked along the river taking in the cityscape. Simply walking through the city was another favorite of mine, alone or with friends.

I know the United States is a young country. I also know Paris has been around for 2,000 years, but the reality of that didn’t hit me until touching stone carved centuries ago and feeling the history of city. We stayed in the Latin Quarter of Paris, and when I was researching restaurants and attractions nearby, I couldn’t help but to read the history as well. The area was given the name Latin Quarter during the Middle Ages because of its overwhelming population of students all required to study Latin. As someone with a deep passion for history and literature, I couldn’t think of a better program.

Even more, I’m a sociology minor, so the political aspects were also very interesting to me. We’re all aware of the protests in the city and the yellow vest movement, even if you don’t know the details. I hadn’t learned much about Paris’ current political climate from the media before leaving. However, after talking to a few locals and hearing what they had to say about Macron gave me a better understanding of the reasons of the outrage. Though after seeing the politically inspired graffiti that can be found on almost every major street, I feel like I have a better understanding of the passion of the people. One thing that stood out was the vast amount of anarchy symbols, calls for revolution, and references to previous revolutionaries like Danton and Robespierre.