Randy Vener

Favorite Lunch in the AUP Campus Area

Best food to go – PariSeven Boulangerie with many choices that change daily – my favorite: “Couscous with merguez and brochette” only on certain days.   Best soup as a meal:  Dong Phat – ravioli and noodles.      Best dessert: Cheesecake (or a huge Palmier) – Moulin de la Vièrge Bakery.    Best sit-down:  Les Cocottes         

One French word or phrase everyone should learn

C’est normal – (It’s normal)…if only to notice just how often you’ll think that it isn’t, especially when you hear people in Paris say it with certainty. Use it yourself with the same level of confidence, but be ready for the reaction.  

Favorite spot at AUP

My favorite place is actually on the street in an exact location.  Standing on the Northwest corner of Rue St. Dominique and Blvd. de La Tour Maubourg, you look towards the river and can see AUP’s main building on the other side of the street.  You’re also directly in front of a typical Parisian Café where you can usually find AUP people out on the terrace. But if you look West, down St. Dominique, the Eiffel Tower just hits you, standing there larger than life at a perfect angle almost in full view.  And if for some reason you got distracted and temporarily forgot that you were actually in Paris, the capital of France, in the middle of the 7th arrondissement, looking down a street that has AUP campus buildings to the left and to the right…there it is. I have a framed painting of that view in my office.    

Favorite thing about AUP

My favorite thing about AUP is how it transforms people. There is a strong sense of a ‘Before’ and ‘After’ in the experience and our alumni draw upon it for many years afterwards. I’ve been watching it closely for 20+ years.