After the first full week in Paris, I feel as though I have gained a good sense of the area. We started the day excited to see the Luxembourg Gardens. However, after an hour into the tour, we realized it was not a walk to the gardens, but rather the Hemingway walking tour, and that we had the days confused. To start the tour, we saw the cafes and spots that many of the American expatriate writers would gather and write at, such as Les Deux Magots, Cafe de Flore, and Brasserie Lipp, which as professor put it, are now very “instagrammable” spots today. These were all in the 6th Arrondissement, which is the different areas of Paris, on a street called Montparnasse.

We also saw La Closerie des Lilas. This is where a lot of scenes take place in Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, and also where he writes “The Sun Also Rises”. The writers and artists were all here because they were inexpensive places to write that were warm, and acted as a writing space and gathering spot where they can bounce ideas off of one another. While each of these cafes remain untouched on the inside, they are now very popular tourist spots, with long lines outside and expensive menus. Seeing these cafes was very cool, and helped to bring what I read to life. It is one thing to read about these places, but to be in the presence of them helps to bring everything together.

As we continued on our walking tour, we passed Sorbonne, which is a university in Paris. I learned that Paris has the 2nd most universities of any cities in the world, and that students go to college for free here, as long as they test into it. Next, we saw the statue of Montaigne, who is the creator of the essays. He had a golden foot, which supposedly brings good luck. I am glad I touched the foot, because now I can channel this good luck and writing expertise to help me write this blog post with ease.

As we continued on the walking tour, we saw the building that was Hemingway’s writing studio. From here, he would see the rooftops of Paris. This was before he would write in cafes. Towards the end of the tour, we walked along a street that was full of creperies, and knew we needed to head this way after the tour. We also walked through an art market. Here, artists were selling their paintings and other artwork. After spending the first part of the day learning more about Hemingway and his life and seeing all of the spots that inspired his creativity, it was great to see this art market. It made me realize that Paris, while it has changed over time like any place, many of the spots and artistic environment described in the literature remain today. Paris is still a very creative place and wandering along these streets has helped me appreciate the art deeply and fully take it all in.

Once the tour was over, we headed back over to the street full of creperies. I was excited to see how this would compare to the crepes my mom makes at home. They had a huge menu of both sweet and savory crepes. After spending some time, I landed on getting the banana and chocolate crepe, and it was amazing. As I was eating with some other students, they mentioned the music festival they were going to later that night. I had never been to a live concert before, so I decided to buy a ticket. We went back to the hotel and rushed to get ready. While the metro is very efficient, and overall way better than the MBTA, it takes about 30-40 minutes to get in and out of the city, just because it is such a large city, with so many different arrondissements.

Later this night, we headed to the We Love Green music festival, where I got to see some of my favorite artists, Troye Sivan, Omar Apollo, and SZA. This festival was an amazing experience. One thing I noted was that it was very environmentally responsible. They had reusable plates and cups for the vendors, and charged a deposit that you would then later get back for returning the dish. Overall, Paris has been a very sustainable city. They have banned plastic straws and other single use plastics, and I have seen very few plastic bags. It’s these small differences that I wish we had in the United States. I admire the waste prevention and care for the planet that I see here.

Attending the music festival was a great way to end the day. While I was very tired and reached a new record for steps for the day on my watch, the excitement carried me through, and I was smiling ear-to-ear. My time in Paris has been nothing short of amazing. Each day is a new adventure, and I can see how this beautiful city has inspired so many writers in the past. Paris is truly a beautiful city, and exploring it has created memories that will stay with me forever.