Paris

It’s been a week since I’ve made my unexpected journey back to the United States. Besides being an unexpectedly early departure date, my feelings and my welcome home were much, much different than I ever expected them to be when I imagined them at the beginning of the semester.

For starters, my welcome home was much different than expected because the welcome didn’t really exist. Arriving home, I couldn’t see my family - at least not really, anyway. In light of the escalation of COVID-19 in Paris and in France at the time of my coming home, I was forced to go into a 14-day quarantine immediately upon reentering the United States. I perfectly understand the necessity of this measure and completely agree with my having to hold myself to the quarantine rules, but this meant that I was not able to truly see my parents when I arrived in my hometown from Paris. Not wanting to bring the virus to them if I was an unknowing carrier, I drove myself home from the airport and have been isolated in a separate part of our house ever since. My interaction with my family (who make up the only human contact I have had since returning) consists of conversations and “shared” meals through windows. That’s it. I haven’t been back in my room since coming home, and all my luggage from my unfortunately short semester abroad is untouched, stuffed away in the closet of my quarantine quarters. 

Now halfway through my 14-day isolation, I have started to establish a kind of normalcy and routine, but it definitely was not easy at the start. My emotions upon coming home were much more difficult to manage than I thought they were going to be, and understandably so. Returning to my house, instead of feeling excitement and relief, all I felt was disappointment and negativity. Instead of being happy to return and see all those people and things I had missed throughout my semester abroad, I was instead bitter because I couldn’t enter my home, because I couldn’t hug my parents and tell them stories of my adventures, and above all, because I knew I could still be in Paris if things had gone to plan. This was possibly the most difficult thing to come to terms with, as my “normal” just the day before consisted of walking miles each day to explore one of the most beautiful, cultural cities of the world, only to have that all taken out from under my feet and replaced with solitary confinement in my small town just 24 hours later.

My last week in Paris came and went in a whirlwind, bringing all sorts of unexpected and trying events with it. While I am of course upset to have left my home away from home for the semester in a rush and to return to my hometown in such strange, unfortunate circumstances, I know this was the right choice and that it was not an easy choice to make. I’m glad to be back with my family as the US is confronted with the challenges COVID-19 continues to pose across the world, but my thoughts are always with those I left behind in Paris.

Halfway through. I was only halfway through my semester abroad in Paris when I was told to get back to the United States as quickly as possible, as cases of the coronavirus slowly began to increase daily by the tens and then by the hundreds in France. Countries started to close their borders, flights were canceled, foreigners were barred from entering the States, schools across the nation closed their doors and on my last day in Paris, all “nonessential” public places did so as well. 

I was being forced to pack my bags during what was supposed to be my spring break, leaving behind the city and the people I was just beginning to form truly meaningful relationships with. Being upset was an understatement. On top of having to go home, as I mentioned before, all nonessential public locations in France were closed for my last day in Paris - this included restaurants, stores, bars, museums, everything besides a handful of pharmacies, grocery stores, and of course, bakeries (a kind of funny silver lining and oh so French) were closed for business for who knows how long. So not only was I leaving, but I wasn’t able to spend my last day going to my favorite places, shopping for last-minute souvenirs for friends and family, or going to a few of the restaurants and museums I hadn’t been able to check off my list quite yet. 

However, I simply could not spend my last day sitting in my apartment, packing and moping. My roommate and I had to find something to send us off right, so we decided to just walk. We decided we were done with the public transportation of Paris, needing to soak in as much of its beautiful streets as possible before we weren’t able to see them anymore. So that’s what we did -  we walked. We walked completely across town to a bakery my roommate had found earlier that weekend and that happened to be one of the only places open in the city. 

Luckily, our walk was greeted with one of the most beautiful days I have experienced in Paris all semester - a much-needed break from the near-constant cold, wind, and rain of the past few weeks. The sun was out and shining, warming up the streets and the Parisians, causing people to shed the coats that are a constant and necessary fashion staple in the city at this time of year. While walking we even spotted a few exposed legs (a true rarity in Paris) as people ventured out of their apartments in dresses and shorts to battle their cabin fever and enjoy the beautiful day. 

Walking the streets was truly strange, as we probably could have counted the open storefronts we saw on our hour and a half walk on two hands. Places that we knew to be constantly and sometimes annoyingly crowded were suddenly peaceful and quiet. This was emphasized by the fact that it was Sunday, a day where most stores are closed anyway and a day where some roads are even closed off to cars and reserved for pedestrians only. 

The combination of partial road closures, near-total business closures, and undeniably beautiful weather was incredible and strange at the same time. The Parisiens converged on the streets in a whole new way, taking their children and their dogs out to enjoy the sun and get out some pent up energy. This manifested in walking in the middle of usually busy streets, running into and talking to strangers, children laughing and flying down the sidewalks on their bikes and scooters, and people sunning out on the banks of the Seine. It was incredible, and we just had to join in.

So we did just that. Beginning our hour and a half walk back from the bakery to our apartment, we stumbled upon Place des Vosges, one of hundreds of green spaces in Paris. Written up by urban designers and city planners alike as being a wonderful example of an urban catalyst for human-to-human and human-to-nature interaction, Place des Voges was truly fulfilling its purpose that day. 

As we entered the park, we were immediately greeted by soft classical music floating in on the wind from some unknown, nearby place to greet the Parisians and foreigners alike who had come to the park that day. Small groups were making slow, leisurely laps around the park while others played ball with their friends or their children and still others simply laid on the grass, soaking up the rays of the sun. Immediately upon seeing this storybook scene, there was only one thing for us to do, and that was to lay on the grass and take everything in for ourselves. So that’s what we did, and we soaked everything in for over an hour. We simply could not tear ourselves away from the unreal and completely perfect setting, knowing that when we did, it would not only signify the end of a perfect, albeit strange day, but also the end of our time calling Paris home. 

We eventually and very unwillingly left, knowing that what we were leaving in that park was also the future we could have had if we had been able to live out the rest of our semester in Paris. We were forced to leave the city just as it began transitioning to spring, just as days like our last day were beginning to be something to be expected. This was a very difficult and upsetting realization, but considering the circumstances I left feeling incredibly satisfied with my unexpectedly early last day in my wonderful home away from home, only solidifying my desire to return in the future to get the days I am losing now.