Arriving in Paris last August for a nine-month Erasmus exchange, I expected to be met with bright lights, bustling streets and the occasional blaring of horns. What I did not expect to find, within all that hustle and bustle, was a quiet retreat, a peaceful sanctuary, right in the heart of Paris itself.
Yet as I walked off the street and into the courtyard of what was to become my home for the next number of months, that is exactly what the Centre Culturel Irlandais offered me.
Standing in the wide open courtyard, you can glance up to see the names of the Irish Catholic dioceses printed along the walls; remnants of a time when the building served as a seminary for Irish priests.
Step through the main door, and you will ascend a winding wooden staircase, walking past walls adorned with memories of some of our literary greats, from Beckett to Heaney. They are a reminder of the new purpose this nearly 250-year-old building serves; to celebrate and promote Irish culture and art, and provide it with a stage in the very heart of the world’s cultural capital.
As well as being home each year to a host of Irish students from all corners of the country, the CCI regularly has artists, poets, writers and musicians staying in its corridors for months at a time. You never know who you will meet over communal breakfast in the morning; I had a conversation with a lady once only to learn, as we finished our porridge, that her son was an Oscar-winner.
Nor do you know what you will find upon a cursory glance out your bedroom window; I looked out this week only to find people storming the barricades in a re-enactment of the Easter 1916 Rising. Some weeks ago, the view was of a circus.
Beyond playing home to students and artists on temporary visits from Ireland, the CCI is also a haven for the Irish community permanently living in Paris. Each Sunday morning brings the call of church bells as the faithful arrive for 11.30 mass in the Chapelle de Saint Patrick. Rain, hail or shine it is followed by a cup of tea, a slice of cake and a chat in the cover of the courtyard's shady trees.
There you meet Irish people young and old, some who have just arrived in Paris and others who now call it home. It is a unique moment capturing and celebrating so much that is Irish; a stone’s throw from the international landmark of Notre Dame.
The sense of community among these weekly visitors, as well as between the staff and residents of the CCI, is extremely strong, and could not have been seen more clearly following the tragic events of November 13th last year. Arriving home from the Stade de France that night, friends and I were welcomed by a group of anxious and caring faces, some we knew but others we did not, yet all with kettles and tea at the ready, as well as a comforting word.
The strength of those bonds became clear in the week ahead, as staff and residents rallied together to get each other through a dark and difficult time. In such moments, it was a blessing to be somewhere so safe, so secure; surrounded by people we were just getting to know yet who seemed already like age-old friends.
In the last few weeks the sun has appeared in Paris, bathing the CCI in a warm glow and drawing ever greater numbers of the public into the courtyard for a moment’s peace, away from the noise and speed of Parisian life. For that is what the CCI offers to all who step through its doors; be they student, artist, mass-goer, concert-attender, or those simply seeking out somewhere quiet to spend their lunchtime.
For me, Erasmus has been the incredible experience I always hoped it would be. But there are times when the intensity of Paris, college, travel and sightseeing can become too much. At those moments, it is a blessing to be able to walk in from the streets to hear the wind rustling through the trees, to glance up at Beckett gazing down wisely from the wall, and simply to hear a familiar accent accompanied by a boiling kettle.
Situated in the very heart of Paris’s 5th arrondisement, the Centre Culturel Irlandais has been a true “home away from home” for countless numbers of Irish people for nearly three centuries, and it will continue to be for years to come. It will be with heavy hearts that my friends and I depart its halls in the coming months; yet the friendships we have made here and the warm memories it has given us ensure that we will call it our second home for a very long time.
