The Exchange Program at Sciences Po
Excerpts from a blog post by Ph.D. student Rebekah Dowd on Daily Life as an American student in Lille
City Centre, Lille, France
This post is about the little daily things that you HAVE to face, because you must buy food, get around town, and learn how to locate things you discover you need once you get here.
First: water. It is something you take for granted, but you need it to drink, cook, wash clothes, and clean your apartment. France is a highly developed state with tap water that is tested for safety and health. That being said, a lot of people in Lille buy bottled water and you will see them lugging these big cases of water from the market to their apartment…
Second: transportation. I was fortunate enough to find a centrally located apartment. Sciences Po is a fifteen minute walk away, as is the City Centre (Monoprix grocery store, mall, multiple cafes, restaurants, fashion stores, etc.). I’m also a twenty minute walk from the larger mall – Euralille (Carrefour/grocery/household items, Starbucks, clothing stores, and the Gare de Lille Europe and Gare de Lille Flandres). Many students are not able to find an apartment that close to City Centre, so they commute in from suburbs. One option is to use the metro (subway). You can buy small trip passes, as well as multi-use cards. Swipe and ride. Another option is to take the city bus system which is extensive. Again, buy a card, ride. The other super-popular option is use the city bike rental system. All over Lille you will see these red bike stations. You purchase a membership card, and swipe it to release the bike… C’est tres bon!
Third: school supplies. I didn’t pack many supplies because they take up valuable luggage space. Sara (another GSU student) and I went together to buy supplies for classes next week. We showed at an FNAC store, which carries books and school supplies. One thing we discovered that is different from the U.S or Britain where I’ve also studied — the notebook paper. They simply do not sell simple lined notebooks: all the notebooks have graph paper lines inside…
Last (but not least): more about food. There are three primary ways to get your food: grocery markets, open air markets, and restaurants/cafes. The least expensive are the open air markets. Last week I experimented with shopping at two near me – the Marche de Wazemmes and the Marche de Sebastopol. Both markets showcased vendors selling fresh produce, meat and fish, cheese/dairy, and boulangeries for your bread… Grocery markets are in the middle in terms of food costs. You can pretty much find everything you are familiar with back home in the States, but maybe named or packaged differently. Restaurants are generally good quality but can be the most expensive option. So far I’ve eaten at two restaurants and one cafe…
Republique des Beaux Artes, Lille, France
My last thoughts for this post involve following signs. Thanks to Google maps on my phone, I am not getting lost even in an unfamiliar city. However, sometimes the best discoveries are made just by wandering through the streets in a spontaneous way. By following the street signs (posted on the corner of buildings as intersections), I’ve begun to learn the grid pattern of Lille’s streets, and have seen some really amazing architecture. Saturday I hope to take a guided tour of the city so I can learn about the history and stories behind these incredible facades…
Read the full post and others here.