City of Crepes a.k.a. Paris

At The London College of Fashion orientation we were given a schedule of our classes and a booklet that explained our upcoming trip to Paris. Having only been to Paris once for a layover flight, I was beyond excited about this journey. A little hesitant about the experience, given that we were going with a group of 30 people, but nevertheless I was very eager to embark. Two weeks of classes had to go by before we went on this trip and the time flew. Our first week of classes at LCF (London College of Fashion) were very interesting because we spent a majority of our class time listening to our tutor's (English way of saying professor) experiences in the fashion and design industries. For example, one tutor named Alison runs her own Public Relations firm in London that supports up and coming fashion designers. She always had the best stories to tell, one Monday after the weekend had past she told us she lost her voice because she was at Glastonbury (Summer Music Festival) with Dolly Parton. I of course being the curious person I am, stayed after class to ask her why she was with Dolly Parton all weekend. She told me the story about how when she was younger she was a backup singer and one of the first tours she went on was with Dolly Parton. Through that experience she became very close with her and twenty years later is still in touch. It is those types of inspirational stories that made the program at LCF so unique. Not only did we get a rigorous course load that taught us about the inner workings of the fashion business, but we were lucky enough to have valuable and insightful tutors that taught us.

Lourve

Anyway, back to Paris... It was a dream come true. The first night I arrived my friends and I went  to the Eiffel Tower and brought a bottle of rosé with us. On the way we stopped for crêpes that were so good I had to get two. That night I truly experienced the Parisian magic. We were sitting in front of the tower in the grass enjoying the magnificent glistening view when I checked my phone to receive an email from Anne saying congrats. I had applied for the Ray Greenly Scholarship a few months back and she was congratulating me on becoming one of semi-finalists. I screamed of joy as I didn't think life could actually get any better than my first time sitting under the Eiffel Tower. It really made me believe that I was on the right path in my career and it reassured me that hard-work pays off! 

Eiffel Tower

It was those types of instances that made my time in Paris very special. Another was when I went to the famous lock bridge, my friend had reminded me of the tale that started it. Basically, it is a Serbian tale of two lovers, the man went off to war and ended up finding another love, while the woman stayed at home and was devastated because of this. Afterwards all the women in the Serbian village put locks on bridges to lockdown their love and protect it from any wrong happenings. This inspired me to put a lock on the bridge for my family. My parents are from Serbia and it made the experience of being the first person in my family ever to put a lock on the bridge in Paris an incredible feeling. I am truly grateful for every single experience I have had in not only Paris but in life and it is these types of reminders that make life worth living.

Lock Bridge