COUNTRY: France
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Language Immersion
WRITTEN BY: Allie Boyd
I was originally struggling to write this because the friends made, adventures had, and the discovery of new incredible places and experiences in my second week in Paris were equally, if not more amazing than the first. It was a bit scary for both Holly and I when we said goodbye at the Gare Montparnasse because we would both be on our own and be experiencing completely different things in the week to come. I think we both realised we would be on our own and would have to be brave! For me, one week was not enough in the fantastic city. There is so much you can and must do while you’re there. I wanted to get a taste of everything in Paris.
One of the greatest things about the experience in Paris was sharing it with amazing new friends from Paris Langue. Over the week it was awesome getting to know Mira, Eduardo and Mario. We were all living(except for Mario who was living with a host family outside of Paris), so it was really nice exploring the city and making memories together. We were also so supportive of each other in our morning classes. Although I always found it terrifying whenever our teacher would ask me questions because I didn’t feel that I knew enough to form a reply.
One of the funniest moments was when we snuck away from our group at the Louvre and discovered an entire floor. One of the teachers was explaining everything to the group in French and we did not understand a thing. We thought it would be easier to reflect and enjoy the museum by ourselves.
The Louvre is such an impressive building and we thought it was so funny that Louis XIV thought “this isn’t big enough” and built Versailles. The history of France is just so fascinating and my favourite area of the Louvre was the old furniture of Marie Antoinette: The bold colours, wood panelling, huge silver dining plates. The old fob watches were incredibly beautiful as well.
The architecture is truly stunning in France, and Versailles was just beautiful. Sometimes it was difficult to imagine that they were built hundreds of years ago. The audio guides were also very useful and they can come in several different languages. In Paris people working at tourist spots are bilingual so if you have any questions they are approachable and helpful.
It’s an obvious thing to say but the food in France is just divine. I have never tried so many new and amazing foods. Macarons and pain chocolat are my two favourites. One of my favourite memories was sitting in the gardens of Versailles, eating overly expensive (but worth it) macarons.
The week went so incredibly quickly and my time there was the best fun I’ve had in a long time. Mira, Eduardo and myself decided it was only fitting to end the weeks together at the icon of Paris: The Eiffel Tower. We ate baguettes and cheese, drank cheap red wine and watched the city lights light up the sky. When it got dark enough, the tower lit up and we were so excited to watch a proposal in front of the Eiffel tower! Can you believe it? Paris really is a magical city!
To be perfectly honest, the trip from Paris to Le Mans was too quick and I wish I had time to comprehend what I was actually about to do. I was proud I had spent two weeks in Paris by myself where I could be independent and free of any obligations (aside from the school of course). When I arrived, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t tough at first. I didn’t really know as much French as I thought I did and wasn’t brave enough to speak. But it was fun trying to follow conversations and Annabelle and Emma would act as my translators during most meal times. And everyday I had to tell Christophe and Christine what I did each day in French, which only involved a few sentences as I was slowly learning the past tense. Translating French when it was written was definitely easier than trying to understand it when it was spoken as they can speak very, very quickly. I actually found that watching game shows and Peppa Pig in French were incredibly helpful. Learning a new language can be tough but so rewarding! As the title says, life is all about courage and going into the unknown!
My first real English lesson started off as a French lesson as I showed the family what I had learned at Paris Langue and asked for a translation of what each tense would mean. I studied a lot in the first few weeks of Le Mans because I really wanted to make progress and Emma and Annabelle even gave me some homework! Constant and Fernando, another exchange student, were both a bit shy so the lessons weren’t really formal and I talked to them when they would play the X-Box. They usually played Minecraft, which looked like lots of fun, and would explain what they were doing and what their goals were while playing the game.
As I’m sure I’ve said before, food in France is really, really good and Christine really loved to cook, so it was fun helping out in the kitchen. I really loved how we ate lunches and dinners all together and spent time talking about the day. The meals were also quite big servings and would be followed by fruit, yogurt and/or cheese, which is when I discovered my love for Camembert.
The Chevalliers’ were also so good as to take me to the D-Day beach in Normandy, as a 'last weekend' treat and it was where the Western Allies came to get the Nazis out of France. After getting a bit lost, we all enjoyed a nice picnic on the beach and some beach volleyball (which I was quite bad at) and we all tried to count in different languages when passing the ball around. The D-Day beach itself was very beautiful and actually reminded me of beaches in Australia. It was a really nice day and I really enjoyed the history.
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