Editor’s note: This is an occasional series highlighting George Washington University students’ experiences in the Study Abroad Program. This one was written on May 1. The entries are edited for style and clarity.
Paris is beautiful today. Barely anything is open because it is French Labor Day, which they take very seriously. Businesses can get fined for making people work on this day. Thus, all of Paris has a day off, in the middle of the week, on a random Thursday. Lucky for me and the Parisians, this week is also stunning weather wise. It's been 75-80 degrees all week. As I write this, I am sitting along the Seine with dozens of Parisians enjoying the 81-degree weather. We all have lives, work and responsibilities, but just for today, the whole city took a pause. Everyone is working on their most important job, enjoying living.
I love Paris. I love this city. I love the way it makes me feel. I have been rewatching “Sex and the City” and never used to understand how “the city” or New York was a character in the show itself. But living in Paris, I get it now. Paris is beautiful. She’s smart, she’s stubborn, she’s chic. Sometimes she just wants to relax on a terrace in the sun with an Aperol Spritz (or a Saint Germain Spritz), and other times she is wandering the ancient streets of the Latin Quarter until 3 a.m. She’s full of people who value beauty, rest, art and music but also millions of tourists who arrive for just a slice of what Parisians have.
There are people in this world who will never come to Paris. Those who dream via tacky sheets in the supermarket of croissants and the Eiffel Tower not knowing what else she has to offer. My dad was one of those people. He dreamed of bringing my mom and I to Paris. So being here, somewhere I know he dreamed of going and yet somewhere that separately hits all of my boxes. Metro systems that can get you door to door to your destination in this huge city, full orchestras who practice at Pont Neuf, buildings that glow in the sunlight, free museums for young people, historic jazz clubs and a diverse population and culture. She has everything I love about a city. I’ve been to many major cities: New York, London, Dublin, D.C., Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Prague, San Francisco, LA, Milan, Munich, Barcelona, Nice, Zurich, Budapest and Vienna. And no one (city) compares to Paris.
Paris has my heart. I love who I am here. I love who I can be here.
Carenna Thompson
Spring 2025 – GW Paris - Universite Paris-Dauphine (GW Study Program)
Fall 2023 – GW Global Bachelor's Program - Belfast Semester
Elliott School of International Affairs
International Affairs and Geography Double Major
Information on the GW Study programs is available here.
