“Non, rien de rien / Non, je ne regrette rien ... ” (istock/Manikin)
This past November the John W. Boyer Center in Paris—named for the College’s longest-serving dean, John W. Boyer, AM’69, PhD’75—had its grand opening. Alumni who studied at the old center shared these memories of their time in Paris.
I think my group was the first to go to the Paris Center in 2004. The building was very modern, and we were excited to have access to UChicago’s internet while we were overseas (an issue back then). The staff put on a wine tasting for us one afternoon. I was 20 and had never had wine before. The instructor was baffled that American 19- and 20-year-olds never drank wine and ate cheese with their parents while discussing the flavors.—Libby Pearson, AB’05, MPP’10
My favorite memory is of Professor James Redfield [LAB’50, AB’54, PhD’61] taking us on a field trip to Chartres: jumping from the pages of a book to reality. We were reading Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams for the Civ program.—Andy Tan, AB’06
I remember the Cheese and Wine Night planned at the Paris Center to welcome the students, only on the calendar it was spelled Cheese and Win Night. Once we saw the calendar, my friends and I only ever referred to it as “Cheese and Win Night” and “cheese and win in the library.” Fifteen years later, this still makes me smile.—Patricia Padurean, AB’10
I was on the Winter 2005 Paris Mathematics Study Abroad program. There were only seven of us. I didn’t own a laptop, so I would trade my roommate a glass of wine for laptop time. We did math in cafés, bistros, bars, museums, and under the names of famous mathematicians inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.
I will never forget getting a tip on a speakeasy next to the old mint building. The password was nounours (teddy bear). All the special cocktails on the wall were politically incorrect aphorisms about Americans. We ordered some drinks from the barman and kept our heads down. Eventually an old woman hanging out in the corner overheard our English and came over. Fearing abuse or ridicule, we put forward the only one of us who spoke fluent French. It turned out the old woman had met an American soldier during the war and although the relationship hadn’t lasted, the soldier had left her with a lifelong love of all things American as well as the barman!—Murat Abur, AB’06