On Friday 13th, 2026, the day began at 10 am at the Cafe Daguerre where we met Professor Cadero-Gillette to begin our scavenger hunt. For the scavenger hunt, we were broken up into groups of three. My two groupmates were Abbie and Lily. The purpose of the scavenger hunt was to explore the local vendors and find a snack that we as students thought our peers would enjoy. Each group got assigned thirty euros to buy an important aspect of a French meal. Some got desserts, other bread, however my group got cheese. The first type of cheese we got is similar to brie and is called camembert cheese. It has a slightly hard rind with an extremely creamy inner section. We got it as a restaurant, pictured below, near the cafe called Fromagerie Vacroux.
The second cheese we got ended up not being completely cheese at all. It is technically a sort of mashed potato like dish called “Pommes Aligot.” It is mashed potatoes mixed with cheese, garlic, cream, pepper, and other spices. It was genuinely delicious and the man who made it used a huge wooden paddle to mix it. It was super cool and definitely a highlight of Paris cuisine. It was super cheap, too. I reasonably sized tub was only euros. Down below is an image of the man making the food with his huge wooden paddle.
After we acquired the cheese, we still had some extra time before we were supposed to meet up with our professor so we explored the street a little and happened to find a little jam shop called “Famille Mary” where we picked up some raspberry honey jam that we thought would work well with our cheese. After that we headed back and met Professor Cadero-Gillette back at Cafe Daguerre and headed back to the World Strides office to have our lunch.
I accidentally forgot to take a picture of our lunch in my excitement to eat, but we had the cheese that my group got. We also had cold cut meats, baguettes, and drinks. In addition, there were fruits such as oranges, strawberries, and red currants. There was also a chocolate cake for dessert! It was such a nice calming way to get a final goodbye discussion to reflect on our time in Paris since in the Moulin Rouge, once the show begins, there is no talking.
Speaking of the Moulin Rouge, after the lunch was finished, we cleaned up and then a few of my friends and I headed back to the hotel to have some rest then went to the Moulin Rouge. I had to immediately head back and get ready because I was heading to a restaurant called Bartolino in the 6th district of Paris with Lilah, Julia, Emma, Olivia, and Jessie before the Moulin Rouge. There I got a delicious pasta dish with yellow egg pasta, spinach noodles, mushrooms, and a rich parmesan sauce as shown below. It is commonly referred to as “Paglia e Fieno” which means “straw and hay.” The yellow noodles represent the straw, and the green pasta represents the hay.
After that, we headed straight to the Moulin Rouge. We arrived a little early so me and the ladies that were there headed to their gift shop and waited. We eventually met up with the rest of the group outside Moulin Rouge. We had a few mishaps with the metro closing, but eventually we all got inside and seated. The show itself was magical. It had acrobatics, dancing, and even knife throwing. I could not recommend it enough. The one point that could be seen as disappointing would be the fact that you are not allowed to take pictures of the show to commemorate. Hence, why I do not have any photos of me in the Moulin Rouge or of the show. However, I do feel like people were more directly engaged in the show since they were not on their phones. That aspect of it I enjoyed quite a lot.
After the show was over, we all said our goodbyes and headed straight to the hotel for a final rest before our flight home. Overall, my trip in Paris was excellent. It was a completely different cultural experience and truly opened my eyes to diversity from place to place. It helped highlight some changes I would want to see in America, but also accentuates some of the United States better qualities. Overall, Paris’ beautiful scenario, sophisticated culture, and immense historical importance made me both miss America so much and also never want to go back.