Bonjour!
Referring to the title of this blog post, France has really come to feel like home to me. When we travel outside the country on weekends, the language feels?even more foreign to me than French is, and when arrive back in Strasbourg, I truly feel like I’ve “come home”. Often when?I hear French being spoken around me in wherever foreign country we?are in, I think “Oh thank GOD someone speaks French”……I don’t even speak French. It just goes to show you how homey places can become once you’ve lived there for 3 months.
So, obviously, March is my third month?living in France and we’re nearing the end of my study abroad. (I know, crazy right?!) I still have to pinch myself when I wake up in France every morning. As much as I want to go home-home, I know I will be aching once I leave. The weather is becoming more and more pleasant with each passing day. The sun is out, the weather is in the 50’s/sometimes 60’s, and I’m actually beginning to see flowers – it’s lovely!
As I write this, all of my classes have come to an end. (And were ONLY in March, how cool is that!?) I have 2 finals to take that are placed sporadically throughout April… this means the only class in April are?my tests! Awesome!
My other wine class, Global Wine Business, ended with a field trip to Kentzheim (an area of Colmar, France). So that makes two French wine classes – both with field trips to wineries and wine tastings… cool, huh?
Oddly enough, March seemed like it was more of a “slower” travel month than January and February were. We took weekend trips, as opposed to week-long trips, and I even took a weekend off of traveling and just stayed in Strasbourg. So here are the places I’ve been and the people I’ve seen….
–Normandy, France. After the fun-but-hectic week we had in Portugal and Barcelona at the end of February, we were too tired to do any “big traveling” for the first weekend in March. So, seizing the opportunity of studying abroad in FRANCE, we decided to venture over to the west coast and visit Normandy Beach and the beautiful Mont Saint-Michel. We saw the Mont on Saturday and spend the day visiting the island. The island dates back hundreds of years and is unique in the fact that it is a “sometimes island”. Meaning, when the tide is out, the island is surrounded by mud (that tourists, myself included, enjoyed walking in as far out as we could!), but when the tide comes in, the Mont is an island and is only accessible via bridge. Sunday was the day we visited Omaha Beach and the Normandy cemetery and memorial. Omaha looked like any other beach, but when you think about what happened there so many years ago and the American lives lost, it’s really something to be solemn about. The American cemetery was absolutely beautiful as well, and I’m so glad I got to go over there during my time in France.
–Venice, Italy. On March 13th, my boyfriend Brooks flew to Strasbourg for his spring break. This was one of my favorite weeks so far… it was so great to see him after 2 and a half months! We spent that weekend in Venice, just the two of us. Venice is, in a word, beautiful. The canals are as cute as they are in pictures, and there are just so MANY of them! On the first day it was raining, but?both Brooks and I agreed that the rain almost made Venice even more perfect! I loved just walking around and going from canal to canal. We went to the tourist-y areas, San Marco, the Rialto Bridge, and on the last day we we took a water taxi?over to Murano. Murano is an island off of Venice known for the magnificent glass-blowing. Murano was so, so pretty and it was the perfect side trip. Italian pizza is pretty good, but I still am a firm believer in pizza made in America. Like I’ve said before, we do food really well!
–Amsterdam, Netherlands. Oh man, Amsterdam was TOO cool. The red light district is wild! I didn’t really research anything before I went to Amsterdam, so needless to say I was astounded with?the culture. We did a ton of fun things during our 4 days in the Netherlands. Amsterdam was rainy and dreary, but boy was it beautiful. (**the pic of me in the window below…don’t worry, it’s just a museum!**)
So there was March!?It went?by as fast as it seemed. A week or so ago, I bought my ticket home (May 17). As sad as I am about leaving Europe, I know it will be wonderful to be back in my?actual?homeland. April and the beginning of May?are?going to be the best months yet! We have so many vacations planned… A few of?us?girls are going to the south of France in the beginning of April to visit Nice and Monaco. ?Then spring break is the next week, and we’re headed down south to the Italian coastline and cities of Naples and Sorrento. I’ve been to Naples before and it’s just beautiful and Sorrento is right on the Almafi coast – one of the top places I wanted to?visit?this semester. After that, we finish our spring break in Ireland for 4 days! Just a couple of days ago, my friend from A&M and I booked flights to Prague and then to Budapest for the beginning of May (Budapest is the #1 place?I wanted to visit on study abroad so I am STOKED). Around the 7th of May, my parents fly into Paris?and?I take a train over and meet them. From there, we spend a couple days in Paris, go south to the south of France (again!) and spend a handful of nights on the scenic coastline of Villefranche. Then we head up to Lyon, the food capital of France, to spend a few nights there and eventually finish our trip in Paris once again. From there, I am officially U.S.-bound! These upcoming months are FULL of excitement!
#blessed,
Lauren