HOUSING.

IN PROCESS: Last year the students lived in a residential hotel near République. Each twin room included its own bathroom and kitchen. I will finalize the housing situation in the coming months.

Food.

The French take food very seriously, which means that if you like to eat, you’re going to be very happy. In general, good ingredients are relatively cheap and abundant, and the farmer’s markets are a thing of beauty. There is a Monoprix grocery store right by ACCENT and other chains (Franprix, Casino, Carrefour) are located throughout the city.  You shouldn’t have any problem walking or taking the métro to one of them.

NOTE 1: The French expect you to bring your own bags (they offer their own reusable totes) and bag your own groceries.

NOTE 2: In many places, you also have to weigh your fruit and vegetables and tag them with stickers, so look for a scale. (The scale is equipped with pictures, which is a great way to add a little language-learning to your grocery run.)

Phones.

If you don’t want to buy an international plan for the month of June, you can get a SIM card from one of the numerous Orange (Oh-rahnje) stores throughout the city. Please know that: (1) your phone must be unlocked for this to work; and (2) you must bring your passport to Orange to buy the card.  Don’t put yourself through the hell of standing in the Orange line only to discover that you have to go home for your passport.

Voltage.

American devices run on 110 volts whereas European devices take 220.  Your laptops and phones should be fine with either, but check.  European outlets are shaped differently than ours, so you’ll need an adaptor to plug in.  Please note that an adaptor is NOT necessarily a voltage converter, and if you don’t convert the voltage on a 110 device, it will almost certainly blow. Also, for some reason it’s impossible to convert voltage in a way that works with American hairdryers.  Don’t bring one or you’ll fry it. If a blow-out is central to your self of self, consider buying a French one for the apartment with your roommates.

Dress.

As a primary matter, be prepared to walk.  A lot. If you can crush eight miles in heels, great.  If not, you might need to rethink your footwear. You will also be taking serious stairs in the Louvre. If this is an issue, please let me know beforehand, and we’ll find all the elevators. I will be thanking you for it on the inside.

Be prepared to deal with both high and lower temperatures. Paris is an old city with minimal air conditioning, and the Louvre can go from pleasantly cool to sweaty hot in the space of one gallery.  A sweater, sweatshirt, or shawl can come in handy.  I also recommend picking up a cheap paper fan to bring with you.  You might laugh now, but as you’re fighting to stand over the cool air grate to the right of the Nike of Samothrace, you’ll thank me. 

(Side note: the French don’t like ice. This means that if a waiter clocks you as American, they will either bring you no ice in your drink or arrive with an entire bucket full of it. The same goes for ketchup.)

Pickpocketing is an issue in Paris.  I recommend a bag you can keep close to your body, ideally one that zips or snaps shut.

In terms of blending in, to each his own.  If you want to go full Frenchie incognito, knock yourself out.   Parisian men tend not to wear shorts or baseball hats, have a taste for fancier jeans, and avoid t-shirts with sports teams on them. The major exception here is anything branded with Paris Saint-Germain, the French football (soccer) team. If you can find one of the Jordan Dunk PSG shirts, you will read as a total local.

Also, Parisian men don’t carry backpacks. I’m not saying you should ditch yours for the summer. If you’re looking to have a full Frenchie moment, however, consider getting a satchel. One of my all-time favorite students, a high-school wrestler from Lynchburg, TN, arrived with serious doubts about carrying a “murse.” After three weeks (and a whole lotta chèvre and Monet’s gardens later), he was reconsidering.

As for Parisian women, they really do tend to be irretrievably chic with an inexplicable ability to hike miles in ridiculous shoes.  Have I seen more than one of them balanced on a bike in 4-inch heels, neck scarf perfectly tied? Yep. Could I pull that off without catching both stiletto and scarf in the spokes? Nope. Is that a problem? Absolutely not. As one of my students once asked, “What do you do to be cool in Paris?” As clichéd as it sounds, the answer is simple: enjoy being yourself.

airport stuff.

Students travel to Paris and the ACCENT study center on their own. If you’re not comfortable traveling alone internationally, I can help you make contact with another student to see if you can fly together. 

Unless you are already in Europe, you should fly into Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport. Book your flight to CDG, not ORY. ORY is the code for Orly, the other Paris airport.

Know how you're getting from the airport to ACCENT. I have deliberately not included transportation from CDG to the program’s housing to allow students to make their own choice about the cost of this part of the adventure. The fixed price for a cab is currently about 60 euros. That number could change, so please check. If you go with this option, please be sure to get into the official taxi line outside the airport. You will likely encounter drivers offering to take you into Paris in or around the airport itself. As benign as these “ghost taxis” might be, JUST SAY NO and get yourself to the taxi line.

You can also take public transportation, which is markedly cheaper if not as easy. You will need to get to the correct airport terminal, buy a ticket for the RER B train, and eventually transfer to the métro line that will take you to the program housing. We will go over the specifics of how to do this during our pre-departure orientation. That said, please have a plan before you land.

Arrive at the airport two to three hours before your flight.  Check your airport’s international travel recommendations for specifics.   

 Bring essential items in your carry-on.  Items that fall into this category include your passport; euros you decided to get before leaving; medications; special toiletries (particular contact lens supplies, etc.); phone; phone charger (you should be able to charge your phone on the plane); keys; snacks; an emergency kit in case the airline loses your luggage for a day (change of clothes, toothbrush, etc.).  If you absolutely cannot live without it, put it in your carry-on. 

Limit yourself to one checked bag.  You really shouldn’t need any more.   That said, if this July is your chance to go full fashionista and you’ve already planned a Marie Antoinette-worthy line-up of outfit changes, go for it. Do consider how you’re getting from CDG to your housing, though. Having lugged a month’s worth of wheel-less luggage all the way up the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine as a grad student, I can tell you that that is NOT the move.

Know that the lines at Charles de Gaulle can be long, both coming and going. Like, really long. Like, limber up mentally and physically, charge your phone, and don’t chug the Volvic at this point in your journey,.

Bathrooms.

As heretical as this statement might be in certain circles, Duchamp’s fascination with the American urinal reveals something about the state of French plumbing. In keeping with this, be prepared to think creatively about all the ways in which one might flush a toilet. If the mechanism isn’t immediately apparent, look for: (1) a hanging chain (pull); (2) a raised button in the middle of the top of the tank (grasp and pull up); (3) a secret panel recessed in either side of the top of the tank (seriously) (push); or (4) strange buttons on the wall (interact with them in some non-intuitive way and immediately post to Instagram). 

“F” is for “femme” (woman); “H” is for “homme” (man).  In general, however, the French are much less hung up on binary gender distinctions when it comes to les toilettes.  (See supra, “Mores.”)  Just because a grizzled old man is staggering out the door smoking a Gauloise doesn’t mean it’s not the ladies’ room. 

At the Louvre, your bathroom options are: (1) the amazing Room of Requirement bathrooms in the Group Reception area (I’ll show you); (2) the bathrooms in the museum proper (long lines); (3) the bathrooms in the Printemps department store off of the Louvre Pyramid area (go to the back, turn left, you’ll need euros); or (4) the pay toilets next to the Starbucks where, for two euros, you’ll be offered a stall that really should be a lot cleaner and the opportunity to buy colored toilet paper, a toilet brush shaped like an Egyptian statue of a sacred cat, or a mini golf game to play while seated.  (Under no circumstances will you purchase the last item and then putt your way down the Grande Galérie. At least not without telling me so I can take a picture.) 

On the street, the best bathroom option is to pull over at a café, order a two-euro espresso at the bar, and use the facilities (often down a flight of stairs) while you wait for your coffee.  You can usually ask for a carafe d’eau, or free carafe of tap water, while you’re at it. 

(If you’re wondering about the length of this entry, I’ve spent a lot of time in Paris with a small child. In the words of the legendary art historian Michael Baxandall, “It’s a special intellectual world.”)