Bienvenue for the last time to my year abroad series everyone! With one week remaining before I depart from Paris I thought Iād share my final thoughts and updates on what has been a rollercoaster experience.Ā
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Today as Iām writing this the French restrictions have eased so that we can now enter bars and restaurants! Eighteen weeks since my arrival and only one week to enjoy the full ambience of city life. But hey, Iāll take what I can get. In a way, despite the restrictions that have impacted the majority of my time here, itās been an even more memorable experience. We have been lucky enough to memorise the streets of one of the most famous cities in the world whilst wandering around in every kind of weather. Iām certain my orientation wouldnāt be quite as strong if not for being forced outside. Every cloud has a silver lining as they say.Ā
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The highlight of last week was going with some friends to visit Lyon for a day. We took a six-hour coach at midnight from Paris, meaning we arrived in Lyon at 6am last Thursday and had about twelve hours to explore before heading back the same evening. It was such a lovely city with a lot of artistic murals amongst the classic French architecture which I always find to be impressive. Plus the hot summer weather made me enjoy the trip all the more despite the lack of sleep. As well as the trip, I also got a new tattoo last week! Already having two tattoos I thought it could be a cute idea to get another whilst in Paris as a little memento. Donāt worry I didnāt get an Eiffel Tower tattoo, just a small sun on my right inner forearm. After seeing on Instagram that the tattoo shop (called LāEncrerie in the 11th arrondissement if anyoneās interested) would be doing a flash day whereby you can go without an appointment and choose one of their pre-designed tattoos to have the same day, I thought why not? So after queuing for over an hour in the morning, I chose my design and had it permanently inked on my body a couple of hours later. Honestly, I cannot recommend the tattoo shop enough, they were all so lovely and even chatted to me in English which Iāve come to learn is not so favoured by the French. Last week was quite an exciting one.Ā
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During my last few days, I havenāt got anything major planned, Iāll just be visiting the few museums Iāve still been meaning to go to and spending as much time with my friends as possible. After having to say goodbye to one of my closest friends yesterday it made me realise just how much Iām going to miss everyone. Whilst being away from support networks for months, I think we naturally start to depend more on new friends and forming strong connections with them. My (unexpected) tears whilst saying goodbye yesterday seemed to prove that. But as the clichĆ© Winnie the Pooh quote states: āHow lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hardā. Yet even as I sit writing this article in the Jardin du Luxembourg on a sunny June afternoon, Iām still very excited to be heading home. Iāll certainly miss Paris and the friends that Iāve made here, but Iām equally keen to see all those I left behind five months ago.Ā
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In short, the year abroad has been a huge growing experience. For the first time, I lived truly alone in a new city and had to navigate forming friendships, life in a foreign language, and a pinch of a pandemic. Like anything, it came with its fair share of ups and downs but I would recommend a year abroad, or any significant time abroad, to everyone. So now that Iāve officially ticked āliving in Parisā off the bucket list, I guess all thatās left to say is thanks for joining me on mon voyage!Ā
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My main takeaways: independence is a great thing, travel as much as possible, and goodbyes are never easy.