Surrealism Paris

Written by: Benjamin Conrad, Foster School undergraduate, Exploration Seminar to Paris

One of the best experiences I had while studying in Paris was a trip I took to the outskirts the city to the Isle of Impressionists. This island was hosting a music festival that I thought would be a really fun excursion. My program’s material involved activities where the suspension of normal motives was necessary. On several occasions we were asked to wander around the city and “get lost”, leaving from point A without any sense of point B. This led to plenty of cool experiences and a much more involved exploration of the city and its people. While sometimes disorienting, this mode of exploration transferred a bit into my time at the festival, and I don’t believe I would have seen such cool art or heard such good music without it.

Paris was an awesome place to socialize in because it was such an international city. Many of the people I met and friends I made were from all over the world, and it seemed that I met less Parisians than anything else. The festival was no different, and I ended up making friends with people from New Zealand, Denmark, and Canada. It was really interesting to explore common interests at the festival with people who came from such different cultures. I was also very lucky to spend so much time with people who spoke English so well, as my French is atrocious. Plenty of the time I relied on other people in the program to help me communicate, but because I went to the festival by myself, I could have had much more trouble if I didn’t meet such outgoing people. This festival really had me investigating much of the different cultural aspects of Paris, and is an example of how fantastic my time abroad was.

The festival on the Isle of Impressionists was an amazing experience. The food, the people and the atmosphere all contributed to one of the best days I had in France. The day I spent there was fantastic, and I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon.