First journey: Paris / Lisieux
Two weeks ago, I went to Paris for one night, then to Lisieux (in the North of France) for the day. My friend Katrina and I learned a lot about trains, metros and hostels on our first trip. For example, we missed our first train out of Angers because we did not pick up our tickets far enough ahead of time. Once we finally arrived in Paris, we successfully navigated the metro to the Eiffel Tower! It was sparkling in the night sky when we caught our first glimpses of it. No matter how many pictures one has seen of La Tour Eiffel, nothing compares to standing right under it.
We stood there gazing at the tower long after our toes and fingers froze, but it was worth it.
Another lesson learned from the cold weather, though: my host mom warned me that it was going to be absolutely freezing in Paris because it is always much colder than in Angers. I did not bundle up enough for it. Moral of the story: mothers all around the world always do know best.Friday night Katrina and I stayed in our first hostel. It was actually very clean and well decorated, and the staff was friendly. But as we opened the door to our room, surprise! We were roommates with a Chinese guy, and he was already asleep. It was both awkward and uncomfortable, so we are looking forward to future trips when we will share rooms only with our friends, as well as our Easter trip to Rome, where we will stay in an all-female hostel run by nuns.
Unfortunately our time in Paris only included a few metro rides, the Eiffel Tower and the hostel. I cannot wait to go back and see more of the city, but we left for Lisieux just as the sun was rising Saturday morning. I slept better on the train than I had in the hostel.
When we stepped off the train in Lisieux, we were welcomed by a quiet Saturday morning in a quaint French town.
Our day in Lisieux included visits to the convent where Saint Therese of Lisieux lived, the beautiful 12th century cathedral where she worshiped, and the house where she grew up. (Left: Outside the childhood home of Saint Therese.) At her house, we spoke to the nicest little old French Carmelite nuns, and felt especially flattered when they complimented our French. We also strolled around the Saturday morning market (typical of all French towns) and ate lunch up in a cafe where the menu was in both French and incorrectly translated English. For example, "Buffet chaud" was listed in English as "Hot dresser." Do any of you English speakers want to eat some hot dressers today? They really just meant to say "warm meals." We also found some gorgeous views of the French countryside. The last stop on our trip was the Basilica built for Saint Therese, although we found it to be much to modern and glitzy for our taste.
Another fun fact / realization: Lisieux appeared to be a much more modern city than Angers, because so much of it was destroyed during World War II bombings. I am very lucky to live in a French city that was spared of that destruction.
Trip #2: Saint-Malo and Mont Saint Michel
This past weekend I went on a day trip for international students at my University.
We boarded the buses very early in the morning, and before long we were walking on the ramparts of the fortified city of Saint-Malo. It is a port town on the English Channel, and it completely surrounded by ramparts. We circled the entire town and had beautiful views of blue sky, water, and landscape. It was truly picture perfect. I also tasted a delicious Kouign-aman, a type of cake that is a specialty of the region, made mostly out of sugar and butter. Before leaving, we walked down to the beach. Even though it was cold, it was sunny and wonderful. And compared to the mid-western United States in February, it was tropical. There were even palm trees and flowers in full bloom despite the chilly temperatures. I have to admit that while I had been looking forward mostly to Mont Saint Michel, the morning in Saint-Malo was the highlight of my day. I especially enjoyed that we had almost the entire town almost to ourselves, since it attracts mostly summer visitors.
Mont Saint Michel was even more incredible than I had imagined. After having read about it in my trusty Rick Steve's France, I could not wait to see the medieval abbey and tiny village. (photo on right: Mont Saint Michel from the outside)When our group arrived, we were exhausted, but we eagerly entered the walls of the village - only to find that we had to climb several hundred stairs to enter the Abbey. It was well worth the wait and the climb, because the Abbey itself was beautiful and the views from the top were
breathtaking. (see photo to left.) We spent a few hours wandering through the Abbey's many beautiful rooms before climbing back down the stairs past several hundred tacky souvenir shops (yet another reason why I enjoy living Angers: it is not very touristy!), boarding the buses, and promptly falling asleep.Life in Angers
While I love traveling and seeing other towns in France, I am also settling in quite nicely to daily life in Angers. For example, Friday afternoon I went to the cutest little place and got hot chocolate with a friend before coming home and going shopping with my host mom and sister, eating dinner with the family, and giving my two high-school aged host sisters their first English lesson.
On Sunday I went to Mass with some friends in the beautiful Church right down the street from my house, followed by a delicious lunch with my host family. I then spent the afternoon ice-skating with my host sister and one of my friends.
I arrived in France exactly three weeks ago today. C'est incroyable! In some ways, it feels like I have been here forever, but I can also tell that the time is going to pass far too quickly between now and June 5, when I return home.
No comments:
Post a Comment