I spent the month in a beautiful apartment in the suburbs of Paris with the Mahieu family. I was in Gentilly near the Gentilly stadium which was about 15 minutes away from the school and central Paris on the metro. I attended a small private school beside the Jardin de Plante which is a large botanical garden in central Paris. The school building was essentially a group of large apartments with a small yard and a canteen. The school was warmly welcoming, and the people and teachers were really nice. Although I didn’t exactly participate that much in class it was still entertaining watching the presentations and the teachers speaking in rapid French. The school was also where I met most of my new friends who were really welcoming and who I became close with fast. Though from very different countries we weren’t that different, and I really felt comfortable around them. They dressed like me, had the same hobbies and even the same humour.
On the weekends the family, or just Simone, would bring me around Paris to see popular tourist attractions as well as places they knew I would enjoy. I went to the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Mont Martre, The Palace of Versailles, Musée d'Orsay, The Stade de France where I watched the six nation finals with Simone which was incredible. But most of my free time was with friends from the school walking around the streets of Paris taking in the culture and following them through their favourite areas of the city. We went bowling and shopping, we went to nice restaurants and beautiful gardens dotted throughout the city, at one point I even went to a house party in the North of Paris which was spontaneous and a memorable experience.
I would describe my time there as a really relaxed holiday. Instead of cramming loads of activities into one day I could just relax and enjoy the city with no stress. The freedom of the metro also meant I could stay out long into the evening in the city with friends. As well as days out on weekends or after school I still pursued my hobbies during my stay. Almost every day in the evening I would do a 4k or 5k run around Paris, following a route around a stunning local park surrounding a pond that Simone’s sister showed me. Thankfully the family also had a small piano in their sitting room which was another hobby I could keep up with while I was away.
In terms of food they made dinner for me every evening and for our hour at lunch at school we would eat out at various street food stalls lining the old beautiful streets near Notre Dame. At home we ate mostly typical French meals, always accompanied by an assortment of interesting cheeses. The food was a highlight of my trip as it was a well needed break from the boring meals I’m used to in Ireland. As well as homemade meals the family often brought me out to local restaurants in the city which were always incredible.
A big obstacle exchange students face is adjusting to the new language. I'll admit the beginning was a little difficult but after the first and especially second week I could feel the language developing and speaking to locals became less of a hassle. Everyone spoke a little bit of English, so I was never completely lost.
I would definitely rate my time in Paris 10/10. It was everything I expected and more and I'm restless to come back whenever I can.
