As I was riding on the TGV (technically Eurostar, but pretend with me since TGV is French) from Amsterdam to Paris, there was one thing on my mind. I had dreamed for a long time to have the taste of it in my mouth again. This being a croissant. This delicious pastry is a delicacy of France and incredible, being buttery, flaky, and just heaven. The trouble was that my memory of a French croissant was poor. I remember them being too buttery, not flaky enough, and just not up to the standards I would expect. For some reason, the croissants in the grocery stores where better than the ones in the boulangeries. This was something I had to change since the feeling of biting into a French croissant while in Paris just feels right. Eating such a light and airy pastry just makes you feel happy. J Additionally, having visited Paris before, I remember locals carrying around baguettes in their little bags that leave part of the baguette exposed. It is such a chic look and one I hope to replicate.
Coming from Amsterdam, the bike capital of the world, and being such a bike aficionado, I was curious what the biking culture of Paris would be. I loved walking the streets of Amsterdam and just seeing people on bikes with smiles on their faces; it made me feel like home. I know Paris has a troubled history with micro mobility with historically limited biking infrastructure like bike lanes and parking spots, and has recently banned e-scooters because of a number of reasons including people killing pedestrians with them… But on a more positive note I did some research and discovered the French have been busy preparing for the Olympics and have installed dozens of kilometers of cycling lanes and shut down many roads to only cyclists or pedestrians.
Besides taking a course so different from what I am used to as a hardcore business major, I am excited to visit the catacombs of Paris. They are such a mysterious and creepy area, running under the whole city with people living in them, parties happening, and strangely 6 million skeletons.
I feel like the best way to explore Paris is to avoid the major touristy areas and go to the cooler areas where the locals live. My general rule is to go where the artists live and work (my parents are artists), but I have heard from a few contacts that the city is getting to expensive for them with apartments in nothing special areas running north of 600,000 euros. Despite this sad news, I have a few areas I was recommended and plan to take the metro in and just explore trying to find a cool café or something. A former Parisian I met in Amsterdam told me that tourists miss out a lot since they just take the metro or Uber to places like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc. and then just metro in-between. He told me the best way to see the city is on foot, walking around since the city is a living museum home to “cooler art than the cheesy Mona Lisa” (his words).