When people ask me about studying abroad in Paris, I could talk about the Eiffel Tower, the museums, or the outskirts where I went to Versailles. And while I loved getting to experience all of those things, when I actually find myself missing Paris, they aren’t usually what comes to mind.
Instead, I think about walking through the city late at night with two girls I met on my study abroad. Since we visited during the summer, the sun wouldn’t set until around 10 p.m., and somehow, even after dark, the streets still felt alive. I remember the warm yellow glow from the streetlights, people still out and about, and the three of us wandering around a city none of us had ever been to before.
Those girls became such a big part of my experience that it’s almost impossible for me to separate my memories of Paris from my memories of them. We explored the nightlife, went to clubs, and figured out the city together. There was something so exciting about being somewhere completely unfamiliar and realizing we had the independence to simply go out and experience it.
I miss the even smaller things, too! Our aparthotel was outside central Paris, so getting into the city required a commute. What initially felt inconvenient eventually became part of our routine. We would stop at the Monoprix near our hotel for groceries, where I bought a reusable bag for about a euro and desperately searched for something to replace the Dr Pepper I missed from home. The closest I got was Cherry Coke.
I remember my professor walking around with a baguette sticking out of her backpack, buying sandwiches for an easy meal, and stopping for a pain au chocolat before an early morning train. These weren’t the glamorous moments you imagine when you picture a trip to Paris, but looking back, they’re some of the ones I remember most fondly.
For a little while, I wasn’t only seeing Paris; I was learning how to live in it.
Before that trip, I had grown up in a small town and had never even seen a metro. The Paris MĂ©tro looked impossible to me on our first day. There were people everywhere, countless stops and transfers, and I remember wondering how anyone knew where they were going.
Eventually, I was navigating it on my own.
One afternoon, I left a museum before the rest of my group and made the entire trip back to our aparthotel by myself. I didn’t even get on the wrong train! It seems like such a small accomplishment now, but at the time, it made me feel incredibly independent. By the end of the trip, something that had completely overwhelmed me had simply become another part of my day.
But when I think about Paris now, I think about the girls most.
I could go back tomorrow. I could ride the same MĂ©tro, buy another pain au chocolat, walk underneath those same yellow lights and visit all of the places I loved. But I know it wouldn’t feel exactly the same.
Paris was beautiful, but some of my favorite memories came from getting to experience ordinary life somewhere extraordinary with people who made a foreign city briefly feel like home.