The Bucket-List

Everyone has one. Whether it’s written down on a piece of paper, typed up on a cell phone, or just known; a bucket-list is something that every traveler wants to accomplish. The past two weeks I’ve been doing just that. It hit me a while ago that I would soon be leaving France. I’m halfway done with my program and feel like I’ve gotten to know Paris better. But at the same time, a part of me is disappointed in myself for not having accomplished everything I’ve wanted to do here in France. Yes, studying is to blame for a portion of it (I guess it’s called study abroad for a reason, right?) but it also comes down to motivation. So I’ve been going more often and exploring the city, and of course checking things off of my bucket-list. Here are a few things that I can now say that I’ve done here in Paris

1) Attended a Paris Fashion week event and concert in Paris

I attended with some of the students from IES Kanye’s concert at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. It was amazing, and I can’t believe I got to attend such a wonderful event. I love going to concerts, so it was great to be able to experience something that I enjoy so much in the states, and be able to experience it here in France. Sure, a Kardashian or two was at the event also, but the fact that I could listen to “Gold Digger” live is enough to make me happy for the rest of my life.

2) Picnic under the Eiffel tower

After an excursion, a few classmates and I decided to have a picnic under the Eiffel tower and boy was that amazing. Let me just tell you, there was Nutella and Orangina involved. It was fabulous

3) Going to see a ballet

Last night I went (thanks to IES “question of the month”) to the Opera Bastille to see Swan Lake. It was absolutely fabulous and was memorized the whole time watching the performance.

4) Going to Disneyland ....again

So I might have bought a season pass here. It’s always a great time going to Disneyland, and honestly you can’t go wrong at the happiest place on earth. To my surprise I found that Disney is a great place to brush up on your French skills also. The rides are in Franglais (a mix of English and French) and were very amusing for me hearing my favorite Disney animations in French. Plus, with all the tourists from around the world you have less of a chance of feeling judged for mispronouncing something.

5) Feeling straight up Parisian

I had a moment on Friday night and it hit me. I felt Parisian. I was sitting at a café with some friends with a glass of wine talking. I love how conversation is important here. It’s honestly refreshing that I can have two hour conversations about everything from politics to fashion in an intellectual manner. The fact that our conversations are going from English to French back and forth without thinking is also amazing to realize that you have the capacity to just “flip on or off” the switch at a drop of a hat.

6)Basking in the sun at the Jardin de Tuileries

In honor of Fashion week, and the amazing weather, a group of us decided to hang out and lay in the sun at the gardens. To say that it was absolutely fabulous was an understatement. With models and fashionista’s walking the gardens back and forth, the sun shining, and a French food truck (yes I finally found one!) everything was literally picture perfect. Even if I was studying for midterms.

So that’s my story so far. I hope that I can continue to check things off of my bucket-list as I continue my adventures here in Paris. It is truly amazing though to think about how I accomplished some of the “tasks” we’ll call them, off of my list. Of course the concert and Disney was planned in advance, but the rest really just happened that day. I love how here in Paris you really don’t know what kind of adventures lay ahead of you that day. So here’s to checking off more items from my bucket-list and making my time here in Paris count to “le maximum”.

Until next time,

Sabrina