Becoming Enthralled with a Place that Used to Only Exist on My TV Screen

"The clandestine beauty of Reid Hall became an oasis in this city of lights..."

Ryan Patrick Crawford with a friend at the top of the Effiel Tower

Since this was not my first time studying abroad, I felt like I was already prepared to take on Paris in the Columbia Summer in Paris: French Immersion Track. My first few days, however, showed me that I was dealing with another adventure. Adapting to another subway system and undergoing a case of “Paris syndrome,” I fell in love with the city in a not-so-Emily-in-Paris style. From going to Shakespeare & Co. every day, reading in the room upstairs that presents a view of the Notre Dame, to dallying around the Latin Quarter on off-days, to weekend trips to Disneyland and Giverny, I became enthralled with a place that used to only exist on my TV screen in Virginia.

The clandestine beauty of Reid Hall became an oasis in this city of lights, but I also found an anodyne in walking through the streets that James Baldwin once explored. After a while, I began to feel like the main character again.