In the 1920s, the city of Paris was filled with American expatriates who used the city as an escape from prohibition, a place of inspiration and more. As the 2020s began, another group of Americans from Winthrop arrived to follow in the steps of two notable writers, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. The students who recently embarked on the short term study abroad trip are sharing their thoughts on the iconic landmarks, the transit strikes, the historical moments and the connections made with fellow students.
The trip was one component of the English literature class “Scott and Zelda,” taught by professor Ann Jordan. Students studied and compared the short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, best known for his 1925 novel “The Great Gatsby,” and those of his wife Zelda Fitzgerald, an author in her own right whose work was largely overshadowed her husband’s fame and her own profound mental illness.
Senior English education major Megan Jensen especially enjoyed Shakespeare and Co., an English bookstore that was popular among American expatriates such as Fitzgerald. “Getting to go to some places that an author as amazing as Fitzgerald lived and wrote was just really cool to experience, and to imagine what it would’ve been like to be him,” Jensen says. “I think Shakespeare and Company really played into that, just imagining all the Lost Generation writers hanging out there as friends and having a whole community there. I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Sophomore English education major Bryn Smyth also enjoyed the visit to Shakespeare and Co., and believes the diverse atmosphere of Paris could have been inspiring for the writers. “Looking at that place, I can see how it would be really influential for writing. There are people from all over the world there, and all their differences mix together into a chaotic mess but it’s definitely something to write about,” Smyth says.
Sophomore computer science major Brendon Lloyd believes that the expatriates’ love for Paris was mostly about the cultural potential of the city. “I feel like most of what [Fitzgerald] liked may have been lost in time,” Lloyd says. “But if anything, I think he fell in love with the music, the culture, what it once was and the idea of what it could be.”
Students also visited cultural sites such as the Louvre museum, which especially appealed to recently graduated art major and art history minor, Julie Hanfard. “I did not expect the Louvre to be as big as it was. People always told me it was huge, and as an art major obviously I was geeking out about it, but I did not know it was going to be that big,” Hanfard says. “All the art that I’ve been learning for four years about, actually getting to see it in person was amazing.”
The trip also coincided with one of the longest nationwide transit strikes in French history, causing tension and traffic that impacted students’ ability to move throughout the city. “I just wasn’t expecting the chaos that ensued with that, and just how long it takes to get somewhere when that is happening,” Jensen says. “It made the trip a little harder to enjoy, but we figured it out.”
Senior philosophy and religious studies major Aubrey Hamrick admires the solidarity of the French workers. “I thought it was exciting and I was in support of it. One time on the bus, we drove by a protest and we could hear them chanting and cheering, and our bus driver was honking in support. And they all started clapping for our bus driver and fist pumping,” Hamrick says. “It was nice to see the French people come together.”
The students were also able to foster connections with students they would not have interacted with otherwise.
“It was really fun getting to know everyone. Even though we’re all so different, I think we all connected in some way,” Hanfard says.
“My favorite part of the trip was after we came back and we would be together and hang out. That was the best part, being social with the people I came with,” Lloyd says, “This trip more or less forced me to meet new people and experience new things, and I’m glad it did.”
Photo courtesy of Laura Munson/ The Johnsonian
