“First Impressions”

Paris is a city I have dreamed of traveling to my whole life. I probably shared this dream with billions of others, and the tens of millions of which visit every year. Paris in particular has a reputation of being the most cinematic and romantic city in the world. This is probably accredited to the glamorous films set in Paris, melancholy music, literature, and Audrey Hepburn. All of these aspects are magical, but do they truly represent what Paris is today? I think that depends on the dreamer.

I started learning French for fun during my freshman year. I was casually learning using Duolingo and Youtube as my teacher, but what really jumpstarted my love for the language was French music. Like a baby listening to Mozart, I was trying to improve my French by branching out of my usual 70’s mainstream soft rock (Quirky Girlz only). I listened to classics like Édith Piaf, to movie scores (Le Petit Prince), to electro pop (Future Pelo) and rap (Stormae). At the end of my freshman year I decided to enroll in French 101 for my language requirement. After 2 years of French, which I completed 2 months ago, I have a stronger understanding and appreciation for the language. My last french professor, Sophie (a visiting language instructor from Paris), taught me how real people spoke french every day, french politics, modern french cinema, and current events in Paris. She built it up to be a real city like any other, with its unique characteristics, conflicts, and culture.

Despite my fascination with the language and culture, I never had any real expectations from Paris (2 exceptions which I will explain later*). I didn’t expect it to be a movie set or fairytale, I wasn’t waiting to fall in love, I didn’t think all my dreams would come true or my problems will be solved– I simply didn’t think anything. I truly had no expectations for the city or this trip, and because of this I feel like I can be a Parisian in this city for a month, and enjoy the city for what it is.

All of this aside, I feel like now I can say that so far: I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it I love it!

*The 2 Exceptions

1. I thought you could see the Eiffel Tower in the landscape everywhere you go.
2. I thought the Eiffel Tower was black…. it’s brown apparently.