La Fin

Seeing as I’ve only been home for 10 days, I’m not sure if it’s been enough time to really reflect and grasp what a fulfilling semester I had and how much I learned.  I know going abroad will probably be one of the best life experiences I’ll have, but it’s hard to qualify it as such just yet.  Being home with my family for Christmas is making me so happy right now that the ache to go back to France hasn’t hit me full force, but I’ve been warned that it will, and the more I think about it, the more it starts burn.

The purpose for me going abroad, particularly to Dijon, France, was to challenge myself, and I know I succeeded in that goal.  I went to a country where I didn’t fluently speak the language, lived with a family I knew nothing about, and traveled internationally on my own.  Although I go to college far from home, I gained even more independence in my four months in Europe.  I gained more awareness of the world and how I fit into it.  I also gained a different perspective on the complicated relationship between the U.S. and France, who are so alike, yet so different.  I’m coming home with new friends at Wake Forest, new Canadian friends, and what hopefully will be a lifelong friendship with my host family.  

If I wasn’t a Francophile before I went, I am a serious Francophile now. 

Dijon

Things I LOVED in France:

Day at the beach in Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer—Maya the dog—driving through the countryside of Bourgogne—wine—Monoprix—pain au chocolat—Normandy beaches—chevre chaud—Tour Eiffel—École de Barbizon painters—Marie Antoinette’s hamlet—street sandwiches—tomme de Savoie cheese—profiteroles—hiking in Chamonix—my host family—Musée d’Orsay—7^th arrondissement—Le Dejeuner sur l’Herbe—Christmas lights—moelleux au chocolat—vintage advertisements—the je ne sais quoi of French fashion—brioche—Perrier—Honfleur—baguettes—tea with my host mom—Monet exposition—Zara—Christmas markets—regular markets—French Special K—Le Bon Marché—Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in Sainte Chapelle—the TGV—the view from the Arc de Triomphe—macaroons—the lock bridge—ice cream cones—crêpes Nutella—Prince cookies—tartes framboises—walking everywhere—Stéphan the bus driver—boulangerie/patisseries—Madame Sabard—host family dinners—new friends 

host family minus Etienne

Hope you all enjoyed the blog and that I gave you a good visual of my life in France!

Gros bisous,

Ellen