Far and Away

Featured Image: The Grandines Estate in Cheffes, France—my temporary home for the past weekend, as well as a site of local lore. This weekend, I found myself locking eyes with a curly-haired cow, our breath crystallizing as one across the feebly-constructed barbed wire fence that separated us. Nose and ears burning bright red from the brisk wind of a new winter, I wrapped myself tighter in my layers of down and watched as she studied me passively, then flipped her tail…

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Enshrouded in the quintessentially Parisian mélange of heavy post-rain air and cigarette smoke, I made my daily walk to the Jourdain metro station this morning to catch the train to my last class of the week. My route to school, whether at the Columbia-run international program at Reid Hall or the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, has become a daily variation on a theme. During the 10-minute walk (or six-minute run, depending on how late I am) from my home in a…

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As I write this from a petite classroom in Paris, bundled in layers of wool sweaters and counting the days until the city finally allows public buildings to turn on their central heating, I’ve realized that today marks one month exactly since my plane first touched down at the Charles de Gaulle airport. Dizzy on 48 hours of sleepless travel and complimentary Air France wine, I stumbled into the city of lights captivated by a singular fear that perhaps I’d…

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