January Scholars 2014

During IAP 2014, eight MIT students were invited to explore the many sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Paris, under the guidance of Professor Sabine Levet.

The program combined lectures, workshops and visits, and took the students from the studio of fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, to the silk weavers Tassinari et Chatel, to photography studio Harcourt, to a cooking lesson, a perfume making class, small open air marchés, as well as guided tours of Versailles, the musée d'Orsay, le Louvre, Palais de Justice, Sainte Chapelle, and Opéra Garnier.  We had couscous at La mosquée de Paris, sorbet at Berthillon, aligot at Ambassade d’Auvergne, blanquette de veau at Rendez-vous des camionneurs, petit salé aux lentilles at Chez Camille, and café and croissant very early one morning at Maison Blanche near Gare de l’Est. We kept a daily blog during our two weeks in Paris: http://jsf2014.blogspot.com

The group stayed at FIAP-Jean Monnet, in the 14th arrondissement, near Place Denfert-Rochereau, on the Left Bank. FIAP is both a youth hostel and conference center with the mission of promoting “all initiatives contributing to the creation of a global citizenship.”

 

Un immense merci! Thank you!

We would like to thank first and foremost our generous anonymous donors, who made this amazing experience possible.

Many thanks to Sophie de Loubens, who helped put the program together and welcomed us in Paris; Vincent Delaveau and Emilie Lacombe, our guides, who shared with us their passion for history, architecture, and the arts, encouraged us to explore different quartiers on our own, and joined us for wonderful dinners and good conversation.

We thank madame Lamour, at Tassinari et Chatel; Alexandre at Un dimanche à Paris, and the people who shared their time and expertise at Cinquième Sens, Studios Harcourt and studio Yves Saint Laurent.

Thanks to Foreign Languages and Literatures, Elouise Evee Jones, Jeff Pearlin and Lisa Hickler for their support and dedication. We owe a lot in particular to Lisa Hickler for arranging the many details of our trip and making sure we all got to Paris in spite of weather related delays.

Finally, many thanks to Sabine Levet, our Professor, and to Professors Catherine Clark and Bruno Perreau, who joined us for lunch in Le Marais and a memorable visit to Studios Harcourt.