I’ve just returned home after spending the entire month of July 2025 living in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, a few minutes from the Champs-Élysées - serving breakfast, meeting travellers, and working on my French. By the time I flew home, ordering coffee felt normal, and navigating the city felt like home.
I was even complimented by a guest on my English…
Why I went
I’ve always wanted to spend time in France to work on my French and do something completely different. Since my uni course didn’t have an ideal study-abroad option, this summer felt like the perfect chance. Because I knew I’d be doing something this summer, I started using the language-immersion app Pimsleur early in 2025 and completed over 120 out of 150 lessons before leaving.
Finding the opportunity
In June, I researched options online and came across Adveniat, a hostel on Worldpackers with glowing reviews and a location right in the heart of Paris - sharing the building with a community of brothers.
It was competitive though and had between 80-90 applicants when I was applying. Nevertheless, I put my heart into making a great application and the best profile I could.
My application expired without any response….
Thinking I was going to have to go elsewhere, I applied one more time and that’s when I was invited to an interview. I was ecstatic.
From there, everything went smoothly and I was confirmed to spend an entire month in Paris… wow.
I booked my plane ticket, got travel insurance, and everything was sorted. Allons-y.
Arriving in Paris
I landed on the evening of 30 June. After navigating the metro, I surfaced in the centre of the most famous street in France, the Champs-Élysées, without even realising at first; I was too busy trying to find the hostel.
The hostel team welcomed me, and I then went out with some volunteers. Less than one minute after leaving the hostel, I glanced right and saw the Eiffel Tower. That was the first of hundreds of photos over the course of my month.
That night: a quick Franprix shop, sitting by the Seine, soaking in the view. Paris is something else - especially at night.
Life at the hostel
Shifts started at 7:20 - welcoming guests to breakfast, keeping the food topped up, cleaning tables, and washing up. Of course, we made sure to have our own breakfast too - I had never eaten so many croissants in one month!
After breakfast came housekeeping: emptying bins and changing bed linen - cleaning the staircases if time permitted. We’d finish around 12:20 and have lunch with the brothers who resided at the hostel, all in French, which was great practice. Returning in the evening for a shared dinner was great as well.
One morning, after a casual question to a guest, they proceeded to tell me my English was really good. First time anyone’s said that - my hosts thought it was hilarious. Another morning, I ended up chatting tech with a guest who was a software engineer. Funny the people you can bump into!
Paris Time - Exploring the city
After the lunch - and, of course, the daily siesta - I was free to do whatever!
Sometimes I wandered the streets of Paris, found the nearest Starbucks with another volunteer, splurged on a €11.50 milkshake (oops!), or went sightseeing across this magnificent city.
I walked everywhere for multiple hours every day, averaging around 20,000 steps and hitting over 30,000 multiple times.
Over the course of the month I saw so many great Parisian things: the Fête nationale (14 July), climbing to the summit of the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur, tourist buses, river cruises, free walking tours, the Louvre, the Catacombs, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées, French cinema, the Tour de France, Notre-Dame, the Latin Quarter, Le Marais, and so much more.
Some of my best moments were walking Paris at night along the Seine (with midnight crêpes, of course) under all the lights, and sitting beneath the Eiffel Tower with friends - especially when someone was singing quality music! Or eating an ice cream at night, in just a T-shirt and shorts, during the heaviest rain imaginable. Yep.
I was lucky enough to be there on 14 July, when we had a barbecue at the hostel and watched the firework display around the Eiffel Tower - which even had mini floating Eiffel Towers made out of drones! I met someone who then took me on a few days of sightseeing, which was the kick I needed to start it myself.
I loved the Franglais moments. A French guy offered to buy me a coffee; he spoke to me in English and I spoke to him in French. Lol.
A great way I found to explore the city and learn more about its history was the free walking tours around the centre of Paris, the Latin Quarter, Montmartre, and Le Marais. Who knew that Paris almost had a giant mechanical elephant built instead of the Eiffel Tower?
What Surprised Me (and What Was Hard)
- I didn’t expect that living somewhere makes you less likely to explore it at first. The first two weeks were more about enjoying the city vibes than sightseeing.
- The excitement of Paris meant I was surviving on less sleep than normal, with early wake-ups and late evenings. I think I’m still catching up on sleep back home.
- People speak so fast in their native language. Understanding a foreign language in daily life can take a lot of focused concentration - don’t switch off!
What I Learned
- Live the language. You won’t learn a language from textbooks or because you should. You need to live it daily and enjoy it: music, podcasts, YouTube - in French.
- Just speak. I don’t care if my grammar is wrong; I’m trying to express myself. Curiosity beats perfection.
- Perspective is the real souvenir. A month away from my daily life didn’t set me back; it reminded me there’s much more to life than work.
- You don’t have to do everything you think you do. We often have so many things we want to achieve, but if I can step away from my life for an entire month… sometimes you don’t have to do anything :)
If You Want to Do Something Similar
I applied through Worldpackers for Adveniat. Make a thoughtful, complete profile and application, being specific about why that place. Put the time in: get Worldpackers certificates on your profile, record an intro video, and upload multiple pictures of yourself. Make yourself stand out.
I’d also recommend brushing up your language skills. Being abroad gives you the chance to immerse, but actually learning phrases and vocab is something you can start from home.
Reflection
Looking back, I still can’t believe I got such an incredible opportunity.
The food, the cafés, the restaurants, the conversations at breakfast, lunch, and dinner - all of it helped my French and led to some awesome French connections.
If I did it again, I’d start sightseeing earlier; living somewhere makes you oddly complacent about seeing it. Thankfully, at the 14 July fireworks I met someone who took me out for a string of heavy-sightseeing days - and I’m grateful. My last week and a half was packed with visiting famous monuments every afternoon.
Living and working at the hostel, talking to people every day from so many countries, and exploring the city gave me a fresh perspective. As a computing student, I could have spent July on my laptop, but I didn’t write a single line of code - and I’m glad.
I would also say the people you meet along the way make the experience, so definitely keep an eye out for those amazing humans.
Closing
I’m so glad I did this experience abroad. Hearing and speaking French daily - especially with two volunteers who didn’t speak any English - made it truly immersive. Ordering coffee entirely en français felt like a small win every time.
I came home with many memories and a camera roll full of Eiffel Towers.
Tom's Testimonial
I was even invited back. Tempting. Where next?