May 10, 2012
| Rising senior forward Tiffany Clarke is spending the month of May studying abroad in Paris. While overseas, Clarke will periodically keep Commodore fans updated with her experiences on VUCommodores.com. |  |
Bonjour de Paris! (Hello From Paris!) –
Sorry for taking long to write, but I am finally settled down in Paris. The past two days have been crazy, eventful, and full of fun and excitement. Let me catch you up.
Day one was full of excitement in Paris. I did not know what to expect, but as I got off the plane, chills overcame my body. I did not know what to do first! After spending 12 hours on an airplane, my group and I was ready to explore this new city and country. However, we hopped into a shuttle and drove across the city to our hotel.
When we arrived at our hotel, we settled in and decided to explore our surroundings. By our hotel there was an open market taking place. Here they sold fresh fruit, fresh raw meat, and fresh fish. There were tons of people at this market. I learned that every Sunday farmers bring their fruits and meat from their farms and sell them at this location. This was something I had never seen before.
As we continued to walk, cafe’s took over the street. Almost every other store is a cafe. However, I decided to stick to my American ways for the day and eat at McDonald’s. Even though McDonald’s is an American restaurant, ordering in French is hard. Although the items were still in English, the cashiers only spoke French. At this moment is where I came to truly realize that I was in Paris, and I needed to learn French, and learn it quick, or I will be finding myself hiding.
It was very hard to find dinner on the first night. A couple of us decided to go exploring and found a Pizza place (I know! Italian food in France). We simply could not shed our American ways the first day. The pizza is definitely not the same as American pizza but was still very good.
As we traveled back to the our hotel, we noticed a big celebration going on by our hotel. Police had blocked off the main street, and people were outside cheering and screaming. On the streets that were not blocked off, people were driving and honking their horns. Music started playing, and people were dancing and cheering. We had come to find out that the French Presidential Election had just occurred and the winner was announced. Francois Hollande is the new President of France. The citizens of France were ecstatic. I learned it was a close election but a lot of people wanted him to win. If he did not win, instead of celebrations, there probably would have been riots.
As the celebration continued, a concert began, and the newly elected president actually drove down our street! At the end of our street, he gathered and made a speech to the public that was televised. I wondered why he was here and learned that the location of our hotel was in the heart of Paris, The Bastille. Now that is awesome. A lot of events and historical things happened here. This made me really excited about my trip and the things I am going to experience in Paris. There is a lot to discover, unfold, and I cannot wait to share it all. Until next time!
Tiffany
