Our days in Paris featured a number of unforgettable moments and wonderful surprises. In fact, our impressions from Paris could be encompassed by this one word: surprising. Everything about the city is different than what an average Pole thinks it to be. We have been fed on numerous romantic movies and our imagination of this place is totally different than what we had really found.
First of all, it’s a big busy bustling city, very multicultural in most places, which can be good for some people looking for adventures, and disappointing for others who want to taste the real French culture.
The architecture is simply stunning: amazing boulevards, wonderful buildings showing off the magnificent history of France, the ravishing decent cafe-bar-brasseries offering good food at reasonable prices, and the artisan patisseries with a delicious smell of the bread being baked. Yet, all this is contrasted with the image of street, homeless people and soldiers with guns in front of some great shops, boulevards, avenues, monuments or museums.
We never knew what we had in store for us and every corner and every experience was new. But there was one constant. There was one thing that became a beautiful ritual for us. Every evening we would arrive at our hotel, freshen up, and stroll to a new restaurant for a nice, and unquestionably French meal. It was the perfect way to end each day – by nestling in among the project people and soaking up the atmosphere while enjoying cuisine. By dinner’s end we weren’t ready to leave our corner table. We had fallen for the quaint and cozy atmosphere. We felt welcomed and appreciated by our sincere French hosts. The food was delightful to the point of being a high point of our trip. We walked out of the restaurants sharing smiles and full stomachs.
During the day, our team was involved in a series of project activities at school. Our students could integrate and brush up their language skills. They could also learn how to be responsible and tolerant. They learned a lot about setting up a business, a writing process and urban farming. This was a very educational and surprising experience even for the teachers.
We would like to thank our French coordinator, Mrs Sarah El Bouh and the whole French team for the surprises they prepared for us and the warm atmosphere we all experienced during our week stay. We wish to come to Paris once again for yet more surprises.
The Polish Team: Mariola, Asia, Ilona, Tymek, Magda, Krzysztof, Filip & Filip
