At 42 Luxembourg we’re at the start of something brand new, and the possibilities are endless. It’s our opportunity to bring people together and create meaningful experiences, which is what led me to organise our first group trip to Paris.

The plan was simple: connect with the Luxembourg startup and tech scene at Vivatech (Europe’s biggest tech conference) and visit the original 42 campus to strengthen our ties within the 42 Network and see where it all began. Easy peasy, right? Well, not quite. Putting this trip together had its challenges, especially since I had taken a month off from 42 Luxembourg for personal reasons. But, in the end, we had an awesome group of seven students ready to explore.

When we arrived at the 42 Paris campus, it was a construction zone, literally. They’re in the middle of replacing the original two-story building with a fancy high-rise, so everything was a bit chaotic. Eventually, we found our way to the BESS building, on the other side of the road, where the dorms used to be. Amidst the chaos, once we stepped into the make-shift clusters, converted from dorm rooms, what really caught my eye was the art scattered throughout the space, thanks to their ART42 project. As an art lover, I was thrilled to see students working in such a creatively inspiring environment.

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Hearing stories about the ‘old 42’ days made me realize we were missing out on that magic from the early days, but it also made me appreciate the fact that we’re creating our own unique story at 42 Luxembourg.

Chatting with the 42 Paris students and staff was an eye-opener. They’ve got way more people and a wider range of skill levels compared to our little startup campus. Hearing stories about the “old 42” days, complete with a staff hot tub (access to which students could buy with their hard-earned ₳) and Norminet the Chief Executive Cat roaming free around the campus and even taking the elevator to better get around, made me realise we were missing out on that magic from the early days, which are always so easy to romanticise. But it also made me appreciate the fact that we’re creating our own unique story at 42 Luxembourg. We have the opportunity to build something new and distinctive, and the inspiration we gained, I think, was invaluable.