MOTS DU JOUR:
Le manège (carousel)
La grand roue (ferris wheel)
As in: It's kind of weird how every city in France equipped with either a carousel or a Ferris wheel...no joke. It's also really funny to count how many children are crying on them.
The rest of Normandy was amazing. After we spent our day at the WWII memorials we finished our trip at Mont-St-Michel and Chartres. Mont-St-Michel is an amazing abbey that was built on tiny rocky island in the middle of a bay…feel free to google image is. I know Coddie has been there and can attest to the fact that it is absolutely amazing, but SO crowded with tourists, easily the most crowded place we’ve been….and our guide there pretty much made fun of Americans for having no culture and no cathedrals comparable to those in France (whatever, you’re welcome for ending German occupation and accepting your gift of the statue of liberty). After Mont-St-Michel we went to Chartres for the day and saw…wait for it…another cathedral! It was actually beautiful and I was really happy that we got to have some free time there.
Upon arriving back in Dijon on Tuesday, we entered directly back into school mode with a test and class all day Wednesday and class and a test on Thursday. Thursday night we had a cocktail party at a swanky restaurant in Dijon for the students, all their host families, our lovely bus drives, and the coordinators of the program. It was really nice to see all of my friend’s families and made me definitely feel more like we were all part of a little community. I talked for the entire night with a family that didn’t have any students this semester but were invited due to the fact that they have hosted students for the past ten years. Both the husband and the wife were very complimentary of Wake Forest and said they had never had any problems with their students! (Go Deacs)
Friday, as usual, our class was cancelled and my host family left to go to Paris to visit with some of their work colleagues for the weekend. They invited me along but I was overwhelmed with work (we already have reading for one of our university classes), and wanted to spend our first weekend in Dijon with my friends. Both nights of the weekend I played hostess and had wine and cheese in my house before dinner, and Saturday night had a full dinner (wine, cheese, fruit, bread, and pasta) before we went out to a bar (for a little bit…don’t worry mom, it’s Europe I’m not doing anything illegal or going crazy thank you).
Get ready Mom for what I did on Sunday…
1. 3 Loads of laundry (1 by HAND)
2. Full load of Dishes (by hand)
3. Refolded and organized all of my clothes!
I wouldn’t get used to it though…I’m not sure how long I can keep this up.
I hope all is well in the US, I’ve officially been here for a month, can you believe it?
Can’t wait to see you all in December so I can show you all the amazing photos I’ve been taking!
Love, Caroline
PS. Look at my friend Ellen’s blog too! She has photos and is actually interested in journalism
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