A Conversation with Will Clancy: CGIS Site Visit to Paris, France

MH: What does public transport look like in the city of Paris, as well as in the outskirts?

WC: Yes, so I know I mentioned that you can technically be placed outside of the city of Paris, but one thing all of our providers – if you’re not getting your own independent housing – prioritizes is putting you on or near a metro line. Paris has extremely expansive public transit. You can pretty much get to any part of the city, within 30 to 45 minutes, within one transfer from one train to another, depending on where you are. It is really, really easy to get around Paris via public transit.

They have their metro, the Paris metro. The transit is also a very historic system. Some of the trains are very old; others are extremely modern. The system is constantly expanding. They also have their RER trains, which are the regional trains that take you even further outside of the city. You would likely take that train to the Charles de Gaulle airport, or into the city from Charles de Gaulle Airport, and that will also take you to other airports and other places around Paris.

And then they also have their high-speed trains that all center in Paris – so from Paris to Amsterdam, Paris to London, or to other parts of France as well. Paris is the center of French life, French culture, and the whole country is centered in Paris as the administrative center as well. There is definitely robust public transit. Students should be prepared for longer journeys to get places, but it should not be hard to use the public transit to get places.

MH: What is the cost of living in Paris compared to Ann Arbor?

WC: So that is certainly a hard question to answer in a city like Paris. That will, in part, depend on where you're living, and also depend a little bit on where you're choosing to spend your time out and about for restaurants or buying food. It's a city of definitely more extreme than here in Ann Arbor, so the nice, expensive things in Paris are going to be a lot more expensive than here in Ann Arbor, but you are likely still able to find a lot of stuff that is cheaper than here in Ann Arbor.

I would say a general rule of thumb is that groceries are probably going to be a little bit cheaper in Paris than they are here in Ann Arbor; dining out, however, can pretty easily cost more than here in Ann Arbor, but it is not hard to find things that cost maybe less. So I would certainly say it's comparable.

Rent will probably be a little bit cheaper than here in Ann Arbor, but can get quite expensive, especially if you're looking to stay very central in Paris – that will be very expensive housing that is very sought after. But if you are flexible with location, cooking your own meals and things, you can certainly be very economical while you spend your time in Paris.

MH: What was the food like in Paris?

WC: The food was delicious. To start, I would say Paris, being such a global city, has good food from so many different places along with the French and Parisian cuisine that the French are fairly famous for. During my few days there, I did not have too much of traditional French cuisine, but I feel like the wide variety of food, both from, the highest-end Michelin star restaurants to your more, hole-in-the-wall sorts of places from more recent immigrants offer a lot of different flavor and different types of food. I do think it's definitely one of the global food cities, so if you're a big foodie, I do think Paris is a great place to go to experience a pretty wide variety of food.

Looking at the colonial history of France and Paris, you will likely have better North African food in Paris than you would in some other cities, such as London. Something worth your time is to spend some time eating your way through Paris.

MH: What is something that students can get by studying abroad in Paris that they might not get in Ann Arbor?

WC: I would say the biggest thing is going to be the history and museums. If you're a student studying art, art history, or history, honestly, of any kind, it's hard to beat the world-class museums that are in Paris, the amount of history that has happened in Paris, and even just greater France. So this is a great program for students to see a lot of that firsthand. I love Ann Arbor's museums, but they do not compare to the Louvre and the Orsay Museum, and many of the other ones found throughout Paris. So it's a great opportunity to experience that history.

I also don't think that there are many other cities quite like Paris, being so prominent on a global stage as a non-English-speaking city. This is the contrast with London. I know London and New York get paired hand-in-hand – Paris is the non-English speaking competitor to those two. It can really give you good exposure to living very densely with a lot of other people. That was the original design of Paris' current layout – cafes everywhere, people are meant to be out and about, meant to be socializing with their neighbors, apartments and housing is going to be very small, especially compared to American standards for things. That is certainly an exposure to a different type of living, that I think our students would really benefit from, especially our students that maybe are not coming from New York, Chicago, or other densely populated cities. This can be a really good opportunity to experience robust public transportation and a bustling city where a lot gets done. Paris is home to a lot of the European institutions as well, so you are very close to the centers of power for not just France, but also the EU, NATO, and other organizations, even other international organizations. It's a well-connected city, in terms of global importance that can be a great exposure for our students.

MH: How do students in Paris connect with the locals?

WC: Connecting with locals, especially in Paris, can be a bit of a challenge for our students, especially in France, generally speaking. The French have a really high value on their language. So if you are not someone that speaks French or has any background in French, you will likely struggle a bit to connect with locals. That is not to say you won't meet people and you won't have people to talk to – you certainly will – but it might be a little bit harder to meet local French students, or even just local French citizens or Parisians.

That's the other challenge of Paris: Paris tends to have a long and storied history of heavy tourism, and an interesting response to that. I know Parisians can sometimes get a bad reputation for not being the nicest to tourists, but I always like to remind students this is just because they receive millions of tourists each year and Parisians are a little bit jaded from that experience and they don't always interact with the best sorts of tourism. So just being very respectful of the locals and – even for students who don’t have a French language background – learning some basic introductions and basic phrases in French will certainly help.

And then going to places that students frequent often, whether that's through the partner university that you are studying in, or if you're going through our partner IES Abroad, through the Humanities and Social Sciences, is a good way to connect with locals. Programs can put you in touch with volunteer organizations to get you a little bit more integrated into the community.

But Parisians and the French tend to be a little bit more reserved than us here in the US, especially if you don't speak French. That is something students should be aware of as they are looking into going to Paris and France for their study abroad experience – the French language will be of more importance than maybe some other locations when they are choosing between programs.

MH: What was the highlight of your visit to Paris?

WC: My own personal highlight was probably finally visiting the Louvre. This was my second time in Paris. The first time, I did not go to the Louvre. I went to the Orsay Museum and a few other smaller ones. So I finally made it to the Louvre. I now understand why people get lost in there, and why you are told to be very meticulous with your planning and to see what you want to see. It's a really cool museum, it's huge, there's a lot of cool stuff in there.

But just generally speaking, I find Paris to be beautiful. The streets of Paris – even ignoring all of the people and everything you see – the buildings are beautiful, the architecture is really, really nice, some of the the monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the many different churches and things, there's just a lot to see in Paris, so I just really enjoy seeing the streets of Paris, especially since they're so filled with so much history. It's a lot to experience firsthand.

WC: Yes, I would say the first is the whole concept of the Paris Syndrome. The Paris Syndrome is when you, in your head, have imagined a place being so amazing and so fantastic that you place it into a certain standard. When you finally go there and see that place, you might feel a little bit let down by the actual reality of it. They name it the Paris Syndrome because this happens to so many people in Paris.

I think it's important, especially for students who have maybe always dreamt of going to study in Paris, to take a step back and just think about your expectations over your time there. Paris is a huge global city, with a very large, powerful economy, so you will certainly see a lot of different things. It is not going to be this perfect picturesque place; even the old writer's neighborhood, where a bunch of famous writers have spent some time. 

You're not gonna go there, and run into a bunch of people in all the cafes writing their novels and short stories. Like, they are there at times, but like New York or London, they have business to attend to, they've got things to do. The writer's neighborhood is not your leisurely playground to go look at fancy artwork and architecture everywhere and get in everyone's way. So being prepared for that, and understanding your expectations is important.

The other big thing that I think is a bit shocking, especially for Americans, is the amount of smoking that happens in Paris. And this can be extended to other locations in Europe and in France, but especially Paris. Both young and old, there are cigarette butts all over the place. That is probably the most common piece of litter I saw there. Any tables outside at cafes will usually have an ashtray on them. It is mostly smoking cigarettes, although there is definitely an increase in vaping, so if you're someone that is not very comfortable with that, Paris might be a hard place to transition into – especially since it is tighter spaces and there isn’t necessarily a ton of room to spread out. When you are walking down the street or sitting in a cafe, the person next to you or in front of you might start smoking – it might go in your face a little bit – and it's certainly something to be prepared for. As Americans, and especially students nowadays who have grown up where smoking has been banned in restaurants and you have to smoke outside in designated areas, this could be a hard transition. I know that wasn't always the case; your parents or other family relatives might have stories of back in the day when smoking inside was perfectly normal here in the US, but our culture has certainly shifted a lot on that. Once you go to Europe, however, and in Paris specifically, there will be lots of people smoking and it is very normal there. It's a part of the culture and that can be something that students are a little bit shocked by, and can be a little bit of a tricky adjustment.

MH: Going off of the Paris Syndrome and maybe lowering your expectations because Paris might not be the Paris you see in the films, why would you still recommend that students go and study in Paris?

WC: Even though I do say challenge your expectations and really think through what you're hoping to get out of the experience, I do still think it is such a good opportunity for our students to study in Paris. Being a huge global city with such cultural power and influence over so many regions and areas, I think this really can serve as an incredible opportunity for some personal growth – both in terms of challenging yourself to learn more of the local language, to learn more French both before and while you are there, and to challenge yourself to get to know more of the French. That also is the one of the unique things about French culture, is that the conversation topics we find taboo here in the US – politics and religion – are topics that they love talking about over in France, even if it is with strangers. We try to avoid politics over here with strangers especially, but even with our better friends, we might avoid that topic. This can be a really good time for really deep, engaging discussions on these topics that wouldn't really happen as much here in the US, and that can really challenge your perspectives, challenge maybe some bias that you didn't know you had, and really make you think about things.

So, although I do say check your expectations and have an open mind as you go through this process, I would still highly encourage students to go to Paris and I challenge them to try to immerse themselves in the culture as much as possible. I do think there's a lot of opportunities for growth, in particular, while in Paris, in part just due to the French culture and Parisian people, especially with their jadedness of tourists. Being used to having visitors all the time, it's an added challenge to integrate and get to know them a little bit more, which can certainly have a lot more personal growth for your experience.