Christian Sargent: France

PHOTOGRAPHY IN PARIS: Christian Sargent

FROM THE BEGINNING…

My summer experience in France began as I awoke to the smell of warm airline coffee and the ring of Sea of Love by Cat Power playing through my iPod as the giant Lufthansa aircraft glided down through the clouds toward the runway. From the moment I set foot on French and indeed European soil for the first time, my experience was characterized by bustling streets, interesting sights, and historic culture that tested my language skills and resourcefulness. The experiences I’ve had with French culture and the friends I have made will be ones I never forget.

ORIENTATION

            My first five days of the trip in Paris were considered the Orientation period, during which my group leader Mark Anthony Arceno led us through Paris, explaining the culture and demystifying the Metro system. I was sent on city-wide landmark scavenger-hunts, during which I was thrown into the culture head-first, forcing me to test the French speaking and interfacing I had learned in the classroom. It wasn’t until my second scavenger hunt that, sitting on the steps of the Louvre Museum it finally hit me that I was indeed in France.

PHOTOGRAPHY

            On what was technically my sixth day in Paris, I rose with the French sun and lugged my 50 pound suitcase down the flight of stairs to the lobby of the Hotel de Roubaix for what would be the last time for about three weeks. I took the legendary, lightning-fast TGV to a city Northwest of Paris called St. Martin, a small, quiet, beach-side city that contrasted nicely to the bustling metropolis that is Paris. I met my photography teacher, Jean-Luc Barbier, and began my photography classes. Armed with nothing but a retro single-shot reflex camera and a few rolls of black-and-white film, I spent three days learning the ins and outs of this artistic medium from a true master.

HOMESTAY

            Having experienced the bustling, big city life of Paris as well as the relaxed, beach-side life of St. Martin, it was now time to catch a glimpse of the hilly farmland nowhere-life of Brittany in Normandy. I met with my non-English-speaking homestay family upon my arrival and was driven to their home in what is probably analogous to France’s Kansas. Pulling up to the field-surrounded, salmon-pink house of five, I prepared myself for the next eleven days in the constantly-rainy yet always beautiful “Bretagne.” My family consisted of Jacques and Catherine – the mother and father – and their three children, Helene (18), Boris (15), and Noelie (12). In all honesty, my homestay experience could have been made better by a more social family and a less desolate surrounding area, but the family’s inability to speak English caused my French skills to increase exponentially and, if nothing more, it made me appreciate and anticipate my return to Paris all the more.

PARIS, JE SUIS REVENU

            If not one of the best days of my life as a whole, my return-day to Paris was the most exciting and anticipated of the trip. After eleven straight days of Normandic serenity, nothing felt more like home than the loud, bustling, beautiful streets of Paris upon my return. At this point, my objective in Paris was to focus on photography, capturing the beauty of Paris on film and preparing for our photo exhibition, during which the group’s photos were showcased and presented en Français. Naturally, achieving the highest potential for photo subject-matter warranted eight breathtaking days of sightseeing, exploration, and glorious freedom in what I believe to be the most beautiful city in the world. Those eight days in Paris were characterized by the most beautiful sights and the most enriching cultural experience of both the whole trip and my entire life.

EXHIBITION

             My final day in Paris was the designated exhibition day during which the Theater group’s French plays and my Photography group’s photos were showcased for the majority of the other Experiment in International Living groups. For my exhibition, I chose to portray the contrast between the freedom of bustling Parisian life and the relaxed pace of life in the country through photographs of the respective cities I’d been in. Clad in all Parisian clothing and with my French knowledge at my disposal, I presented my photos to the audience and was able to fulfill my public-speaking passion in the context of another culture.

FIN

The following day, I descended the flight of Hotel de Roubaix steps for the last time, lugging my now-80 pound suitcase out of the lobby doors for the last time. I headed to the airport at 3AM sharp and I was able to ride the plane back with all of the new friends I’d made on the trip, from not only my group but also many others. Lifting off the runway at the Charles de Gaulle airport, I reflected on the trip and resolved that this shouldn’t be the last time I see Paris, by any means. It was not until she had to exit the pedestrian metro at JFK airport that I had to bid the last of my group members goodbye for the last time before boarding my plane back home. The friends I made and the experiences I had on this trip will stay with me for the rest of my life.

THANK YOU

I can’t thank the Wilson family enough for this experience, and there’s no way it would have been possible without their generosity. Un grand merci to Mme O’Connell, to whom I owe all my thanks for the French knowledge that made this trip so meaningful for me. Finally, thank you to my parents and especially to my father for not only supporting me back home, but also for his involvement with my French learning experience out of the classroom.