The City of Lights, the City of Love is forever in our hearts and the soles of our shoes !

Coucou je suis ici! I’m back and SO much has happened over the course of the semaine. To start off I started my internship on Monday at NLB Conseil, an executive search firm in Paris specializing in luxury goods and cosmetics. I was nervous on Monday morning as I walked to work, but I am so happy to be there because I am surrounded by positive faces and attitudes every day. Even though I have only been there for a week, I have learned and witnessed so much of the “head-hunting” process. Before my internship, I never thought about how a multi-millionaire dollar company interviews for their new Director of Public Relations or their new CEO, but from this experience I now know the procedure. I am so glad to be working at NLB Conseil because I know French business conversational skills and business in general. I am so lucky to be in Paris and even luckier to be working in Paris!

The days are long, tiring, and very hot because of the heat wave in Paris but the hours spent in the cool office are productive and fun. My dream was to work and live in Paris and I have successfully fulfilled my rêve. Although the internship has only been two weeks, I can say that I know Paris well enough to come back for two months, two years or more! It has been an amazing experience and I can’t believe that it is my last week here.  I am comfortable with my daily route to work and either looking at the Arc de Triomphe or la Défense that view is unlike any other on the planet.

Even though Sophie and I are working, we still have had time to discover Paris after work. Sophie and I climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe last Wednesday on a beautiful Parisian day! The view from the top was phenomenal and it was absolutely breathtaking!  On Thursday night, we all ate at an amazing steak-frites place right down the road, l’Entrecôte. I have nothing to compare it to because the steak-frites elsewhere are not even close to the restaurant dans le dix-septième arrondissement. After dinner, Sophie, Madame de Horsey, and I went to Hôtel de Banville and watched Madame de Horsey’s friend, Marianne, the owner sing and perform. This week has been so enjoyable at work, the night at the hotel, and our time with our host family. We have enjoyed our week in the office and the lab and are ready for another one!

Although our last days in Paris are approaching and the heat is rising, Sophie and I will not stop discovering Paris à pied. Tourists come to France from all over the world and are exhausted at noon, contrary to public belief Sophie and I are not les touristes anymore but Parisiennes. Our feet are numb from walking more than forty miles over the course of the deux semaines, however we are not finished yet! Paris defeats tourists with its beauty, a copious amount of museums and monuments, dozens and dozens of stores, and miles to cover in a short period of time, but Sophie and I successfully defeated Paris (it is still standing). Ne vous inquietez-vous pas, Paris on revient (Don’t worry Paris, we will be back)!

The City of Lights, the City of Love is forever in our hearts and the soles of our shoes.

À plus tard,

Olivia Vitton

SG’16