Today, we continue our immersion classes and learned additional French phrases to help us learn how to order food and beverages in a restaurant. We also discussed French fashion, tipping culture, and we read a book discussing French culture. At the end of the day some rules, advice, and benefits were discussed to make us aware before we begin our journey to France. Professor Goodluck stopped by to share some positive words, and there was much excitement in the room as we prepare to depart.

Today, we started our first day of immersion classes with Professor Duchamp. We learned some key phrases in French including how to introduce ourselves, find out the names of others, how to find out prices and negotiate prices when shopping, and the numbers from one to one hundred. We received additional details about the upcoming trip, the calendar of events, and important phone numbers in case of an emergency. We’re looking forward to our next immersion course tomorrow.

Today was a busy day as we completed two exciting activities. We started our journey visiting one of the principal markets of Paris, “Rungis International Market,” located at 1 Rue de la Tour, 94150 Rungis. The market is the second largest wholesale food market in the world, and we learned a lot about their products. We separated into two groups to avoid any accidents as people were working and transporting their products in large quantity via small cars. Philipe was our tour guide, and he was great at describing every area of the market. Rungis Market is important for Parisians because they value spending money on food and recipes and enjoy cooking. The market opened 54 years ago in 1969. It imports products from different parts of the world like seafood from Greece, vegetables and fruits from Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, and meats from Uruguay, Argentina, and Japan. Twenty five different companies exist within the marketplace. To place an order, a customer must talk to the owner and negotiate. An interesting fact we learned from the tour that some chickens alive for 120 before going to the market other chickens deemed red label chickens are alive for at least 75 days before going to the market in boxes. Also, during Covid, there were some restaurants inside the market that remained open and were considered essential, unlike other restaurants in the area. Something I noticed on the tour was that there weren’t many females working in the area. Overall I had a great experience and found it interesting to see how Parisian restaurants get their fresh products. After the tour, we returned to the hotel to rest before continuing our journey to visit the Hotel Paris Bastille Boutet-MGallery. The hotel was located at 22 24 Rue Faidherbe in the heart of the authentic Bastille district and near Marais, a new 5-star hotel. The Hotel Paris Bastille Boutet-MGallery lies within a historical building, the Maison Boutet. From wood manufacturing to a chocolaterie, it has all of its original charm. The hotel is exclusive and one-of-a-kind with 80 rooms and suites and 10 terraces showcasing its unique character. Its spa has two treatment rooms, a swimming pool, sauna, and a fitness room. The bar offers light meals and chocolate treats.