First week of Paris went by like a breeze. I felt like everything was a blur. From running along the canal to the Louvre to early morning visits to the Eiffel Tower, I felt like I dove headfirst into the city of Paris. In my opinion there are various parts of the city that are unique and a must see, however, I would still advise to not stay out late for too long especially alone. My perception of Paris has definitely gotten better than the last time I visited because I believe that Paris has become more tourist friendly with the amount of English spoken around the city. People are definitely nicer compared to 7 years ago and more welcoming yet I still believe that it is worth the effort to try and incorporate some basic French vocabulary. I have visited a couple of the attractions in Paris, and it continues to amaze me every time I visit them.
I have learned so much during my time in Paris. I learned that crepes are essential to me when I am in Paris. I have had a crepe almost every day since I arrived. There are so many different options of savory and sweet in the quintessential French cuisine that I feel like I am eating something completely different. Another French cuisine that has enticed my diet is escargos. I have never tried snails before and thought they were creatures that come out of the mud after the rain. However with the methods the French use to prepare the delicacy, it tastes amazing and is an absolute must when coming to France. Paris is such a unique place that could meet the needs of almost anyone. There are plenty of cuisines that have cheap deals with plenty of food. In fact, I had a whole bucket of mussels and fries for less than 20 euros.
In the past week, I also really enjoyed the low fidelity prototyping exercise we did as a class. I think that by building our own prototyping cart, we really had to think about what are the essentials we needed in a new city. We were then able to explore the city on a limited budget and try to find those items. My favorite part of the adventure was when we came across cardboard and foam. We asked a store who was packing up the cardboard if we could have it and to my surprise, they gave it to us. On the other hand, we found styrofoam on top of a trash can when walking to the arts and craft store. One of my teammates beforehand and told me that she would not be dumpster diving, however, she was the person who reminded me that one man’s trash can be another man’s gold.
As we moved along the week, we broke into groups and started to work on prototypes. Being in the bread group, I tried to find different methods and knives to slice a baguette. A main concern for me was how to hold down the bread as one of our constraints is that our user has low dexterity in one hand. While we are still in the prototyping and testing phase, I hope we are able to find a solution that will suit the needs of our criteria. While working in groups, some of the best times have been on excursions. I love exploring the city with purpose. Sometimes, my group would even choose to walk to our destination rather than take public transportation because we would be missing a majority of the city being underground.
My highlight for the week is definitely visiting the Eiffel Tower twice this trip. I once went in the early morning hours where there were few tourists there and got nice pictures. I also went later in the night to watch the night show. Both were amazing as I couldn’t believe I was staring at the same structure from day to night. In fact, I still am not able to decide which sight I like better.
