Paris.
currency - euros, key areas - Hotel De Ville (thrift shops galore), le Marais (coffee), Champs-Elysees (shopping), Canal St.Martin (brunch), Montmarte (shoreditch-esque), transport - uber, metro, bike.
Dress Code.
So by the time I arrived in Paris, I had been chewed up by the "coolness" monster of New York and spat out as a lower Manhattan gal, baseball cab-sweatshirt combo and all. Low and behold, I touched down in chicness central in Paris, where carelessly careful dressing was perfected to a T.
To begin with, the cool girls wore a uniform - an understated, multi-textured uniform of black. It was almost necessary to wear black if you were in fashion, and it was easy - in the constant rainy weather, the only colour you would want to chuck on in the mornings was black.. as well as a little navy to mix it up. I learnt to appreciate an accessory that was made well and wouldn't be necessarily the most brightest, eye-catching one on the shelf. I learnt the benefit of black flat leather boots (and of course trainers) and found that a simple white shirt, with a pair of black jeans and black jacket with black boots was enough for me to be taken seriously... and I can safely say, the baseball cap rarely came out.
I stopped wearing makeup, similarly to new york, and stopped doing my hair - Paris, after all, was all about the "I promise, I actually did wake up like this" look, despite the time spent thinking about the outfit, and taming your hair into a messy pony tail. I also began to realise the benefits of dark eyeliner for nights out drinking red wine (I'll come on to that next). It was indeed the city of chic, and soon enough, I was being told by those I met "you always seem to wear black!"
Lifestyle.
Now, unlike New York, time was to be enjoyed in Paris and you definitely did not need to waste a single minute rushing around. Everything was at a level of calm, enough for you to appreciate your surroundings and think about your day-to-day errands (well, enough time to get a lie in in the mornings). Even turning up to lectures was not regular, with some lessons not starting until an hour after scheduled time because we were still waiting for other pupils to arrive. Food shops close at 2pm on a sunday, so expect to not have food in your cupboards for sunday, if you're hungover and would rather stay in bed.
The culture and history of Paris is also incredibly celebrated within the city, with as many different museums as you would like, all being free for students of the EU - one in particular, Palais de Tokyo, was my favourite, with the overall experience transporting you into another world. There is also so much to take in when visiting Paris - from the neighbourhoods to the buildings to the monuments to the hidden away cafes, even the people (particularly the fashion). Although it is definitely not as fast-paced as New York and London, there is definitely a lot to explore (note: not everything can be fitted into a two day visit without fully appreciating the city and its culture).
Food.
So as much as New York is known for its brunching, Paris is known for its coffee and wine.. we'll discuss food in a bit. I was never a huge red wine drinker, until I touched down in Paris town. Bars are open until 1am on weeknights, with a small glass of red wine (and not a bad tasting one either) costing around 4 euros, thats about £3 for us brits... and you can bet your bottom dollar that you can sit outside a nice bar, surrounded by fellow parisians, facing out into the road, and watch time go by. And it seemed that a glass of wine, even if you fancy a lighter white wine or rose, was indeed cheaper than a cafe creme - a latte for us. Un ver du vin was an easy excuse to see your girls, whilst meeting the "city chic" criteria for a friday night.
And also, coffee. Now, having just jumped ship from one of the most coffee-central cities in the world, I was slightly disappointed with the difficulty of finding a good coffee, in a regular sized mug, that wasn't Starbucks - and how uncool it was to be seen drinking Starbucks at an arts university. Even though I STILL bought my Starbucks whilst on the metro home, it was only after really searching and hunting down coffee shops launched by English or Australian ex-pats, was I able to sit down with a mug of coffee (The Broken Arm, Honor Cafe and Holy Belly Cafe, you fed my coffee cravings well)... note : to all those looking for the parisian experience, a double shot expresso from a parisian cafe style on numerous city corners is the best option, for those who want to hunt down the perfect thought-through coffee blend, find the above.
Not forgetting, food. One thing I found was that I learnt to appreciate doing picnic-style eating - sitting by the river Seine with bread and cheese and a can of coke, was one of the loveliest experiences I had with my friends from Denmark. It is also very difficult to eat from stores like "Tescos" or "Sainsburys", with a "Marks and Spencers" only being one in some of the main metro stations. The best wait to eat a good lunch, for less than 10 euros, was indeed at a localy family-run Boulangerie (bakery) where you could find any large, home-cooked, freshly baked sandwich with a filling of your choice - cheese with lettuce and tomatoes, yes please! (+ additional crusty bread).
Travel.
So unlike New York, the metro in Paris did not run through the night, it rain up until about 12am on weeknights, and 1.30am on weekends (friday counts as a weekend). You also have the "RER" metro, which travel to the outskirts of Paris and out of Paris, as well as in the in-city lines that are number 1-14 depending on the route... it is also a hell of a lot easier to understand than New York, as well as being slightly cheaper for a monthly student pass. Uber was just about as cheap as London and just as reliable - remember, alle' is to go, 'ici' is here, and 'se bonne' is that's good. That is all you need. I also found that a lot of friends did indeed cycle everywhere, with a similar system to Boris bikes existing in Paris, and traffic not being as crazy as it is in New York and London, it was safe enough to cycle.
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If you want a city to live in where you can relax and appreciate culture and history, this is the city. I personally found that I relaxed massively whilst living here for three months, and found that I gained a different way to approaching my own life. Paris is the city of Romance, of beauty and of life, and will always be the most calming of the three from this past year.
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