Veronica Lavil

Traveling historian with a writer's heart

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Category: A Foreigner in Paris

Read about my adventures through Paris

A Foreigner in Paris, Travel

Stepping back to Medieval Times : Provins, France

July 24, 2018March 6, 2019by Veronica Lavil4 Comments on Stepping back to Medieval Times : Provins, France
Stepping back to Medieval Times : Provins, France

Living in Paris is such a thrilling experience. There is the bustle of the city, the people out on the streets, cafés on every corner... but sometimes it can get quite exhausting and we "Parisians" need a break (am I even considered to be a Parisienne yet?).  A few weeks ago I started looking for [...]

A Foreigner in Paris, Personal

Reversed Worlds

August 29, 2017by Veronica Lavil1 Comment on Reversed Worlds
Reversed Worlds

I am back in Paris, which means I am back to being the foreigner. Yet, for some reason, I feel caught between two worlds. I’ve been living in France for three years now, and it is a hard feeling to explain, knowing that this is the place where I belong at the moment. I love [...]

A Foreigner in Paris, Travel

Scared of Mickey to Love for Disney

July 3, 2017July 18, 2017by Veronica Lavil11 Comments on Scared of Mickey to Love for Disney
Scared of Mickey to Love for Disney

Here is the story of my first time at Disneyland, which was in Anaheim, California. You would have thought that for an 8 year old at the time, it was every kid's dream to head to the land of Mickey. It was my nightmare.  When I was little, I was afraid of people dressed in [...]

A Foreigner in Paris

French Stereotypes : True vs. False

June 2, 2017by Veronica Lavil15 Comments on French Stereotypes : True vs. False
French Stereotypes : True vs. False

It is that time of year again: Tourist Season. I have undoubtedly been guilty of acting as the overly, loud American enthusiast of Paris. After almost three years of living in the city of lights though, I have learned how to navigate and blend in as one of the "parisiennes" (but I still have a [...]

A Foreigner in Paris, Opinions

When the World is Watching : Macron vs. Le Pen

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017by Veronica Lavil2 Comments on When the World is Watching : Macron vs. Le Pen
When the World is Watching : Macron vs. Le Pen

In November when Trump won the presidency of the United States, that Friday I went to a party. It was interesting, as the lone American in the room I was bombarded with questions. "How do you feel? How could America vote him?" Then they tried reassuring me, "not much will happen... He is just a [...]

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Veronica Lavil

Veronica Lavil

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On the eve of my departure, I had a date between the city and I. I drank red wine from a paper cup from the windowsill of my hotel as I’d done on so many evenings from my first apartment to the last. I listened to the people going on about their lives - the neighbor singing, the people on the streets with their aperitifs, the clinking of pots and pans from an open window of someone preparing their dinner… I remembered nights dancing along the sidewalks, “took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer”, of mornings watching the sunrise from Montmartre, remembering the weeks I didn’t know where I would sleep next… and it was then that I realized that I had wanted a date between myself and the 19 year-old wide-eyed child that arrived, excitedly, to the city of her childhood dreams almost 8 years ago. Paris is the place in where I became so many things I never knew I would and could become. It’s a place where I’ve danced, sang, cried and had to rebuild myself. It’s a city that haunts my past but yet shines with her magical lumière. Every time I come here, I become more at peace with her, both the city and the lost woman I was. I’ll always thank them for making me strong 🤍 It’s a complicated love affair, Paris and I, but how can you not love a place that made you into the woman that you are today? That gave you the best people who continuously show up? I’m appreciative and grateful, though this city can drive me crazy, of what I built here. Paris will always, somehow, feel like home 🤍 https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfmqUyFrV1M/ Parisian week As I sat in the courtyard of the halls I used to roam, drinking the same coffee from the cafe where I would spend hours studying (being served by strangers because those that used to work there no longer don’t - I wonder what happened to them), I couldn’t help but wonder how one place can mean so much and be so special yet at the same time be so scary. This place will always feel like home, but to another life and another woman. Though there are so many things I would turn back time on and change, I can’t help but appreciate how far I’ve come. I’ve made a beautiful life for myself and grieved the life I thought I would have. This new one is 100x better. I get to call two of the most beautiful cities in the world home. Ti amo Parigi. Je t’aime Paris. There is something about how the light hits at sunset, no? “I grew up bilingual… the bi does not stand for two but for adiós to speaking any language correctly”… and so starts my videos that I shall call #byelingual, in which I share with you the things I’m learning about the 4 languages I speak *decently*. Might as well start making fun of the stupidities I’m learning and embarrass myself on the internet. Her story changed and better days came ( 📸 @nnsiyafirsova ) May - moved into my new apartment, turned 27, danced in Torino, dipped my toes in the sea to get burned for the first time this season, and saw friends accomplish important things in their lives 🤍

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