la joie partout

Cassis

10:22 AM

On Friday, JJ, Emily, and I took a quick break from exploring Aix-en-Provence to wander over to one of the nearby seaside towns. Cassis did not disappoint. The town is beautifully situated among the famous calanques and is a charming and quieter taste of the French Riviera. The beach is carved right out of the calanques and behind it sits a colorful, bustling port.

Getting there | I wish that we had a car while in Aix-en-Provence because there are so many things to see so close to Aix between the beautiful provincial countryside and the charming coastline. We were at the TGV's whim on this one. We took the TER (regional express train) to Marseille and then took another train to Cassis from Marseille. The Cassis TGV gare is a bit far out of the center of Cassis, so we took a bus from the train station to the town of Cassis. Overall the journey took us way longer than it needed to because we had so many little legs of it, but in the end it was worth it! If you are visiting Cassis definitely put in the research as to how you are getting there!

We spent the day between the beach and the port. It was sunny and beautifully picturesque! Cassis has quickly become one of my favorite little spots in France.

The beautifully clear water of the Mediterranean! While we were swimming a French woman asked us if we had seen any méduse (jellyfish). We were a bit more alert after that!

travel

Aix-en-Provence & Paris

10:01 AM

Touching down at Marseille Airport on a lovely end-of-May Wednesday marks my first visit back to France since I studied abroad last spring. After a year of reminiscing on the beauty and adventure spent with my newfound friends in France, returning back to this wonderful place has made me so happy! My younger sister is studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence for the summer (how lovely, a summer in the south of France!) so I accompanied her to begin this adventure along with Emily, one of my closest friends from college. Emily has never visited France before so I was especially eager to show off this beautiful country to her (that I admittedly wouldn't shut up about when I returned home last summer.)

Wednesday was our first day in Aix. We had an amicable taxi driver from the Marseille airport who made me hit the ground running on conversing in French again. Since I didn't take any French classes in my last semester it'd been a while, but I was happy when he told me that I spoke well! Upon arriving in Aix we walked around and forced ourselves to stay awake as long as possible to get adjusted to being 6 hours ahead.

Thursday we spent the day exploring Aix. We walked up and down the Cours Mirabeau and got my sister situated with the city.

Sun-drenched Aix-en-Provence

Friday we took a day trip to Cassis, which I recount here because the beauty of this seaside town merits its own post!

Saturday was our final morning in lovely provincial France! We saw my sister off as she embarks on a summer-long adventure exploring southern France and immersing herself in the beautiful French language. After saying goodbye Emily and I were off for Part II of our French travels...off to Paris!

Paris will always be one my favorite destinations (this trip marks my 4th time visiting this beautiful city!) Emily and I stayed in a spacious apartment in the 1st arrondissement, a but 5 minute walk from the Louvre and the picturesque Jardin des Tuileries.

View off of our Airbnb balcony

Exploring the Jardin des Tuileries!

Sunday we took a trip out to Versailles. I first visited the chateau right after finishing my junior year of high school 5 years ago. I definitely got much more out of this visit so I was happy to go back! After majoring in French in college I definitely understand much more about French history which made this visit more meaningful.

We spent Monday and Tuesday exploring all of the typical Parisian tourist stops: The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, etcetera...

I got to see my French friend Tiphaine in Paris! I met her during my semester abroad in Nantes. It was SO GOOD to see her! Definitely a highlight of the trip for me!

Already dreaming of heading back!

tapif

Le retour

1:24 PM

A little less than a year ago when I returned from my semester abroad in Nantes, I was enchanted by France and vowed to return as soon as I could. I loved passing boulangerie after boulangerie on my way to school, getting to know new French friends over galettes, watching French television with my little host brother, vacations with my host family on the picturesque western Atlantic coast, and just overall experiencing France and all it's beauty. I’ve spent almost every moment since my bittersweet flight back to the U.S. yearning to go back.
And now here I am, staring with disbelief and excitement at the email acceptance that says another sojourn in France is in my near future. I’m so happy to share that I’ve been accepted to be an English Teaching Assistant in the académie of Bordeaux for the 2017-2018 school year. For those of you who haven’t endured my obsessing over TAPIF for the past few months while I waited for this decision, TAPIF is the Teaching Assistantship Program in France, a program that places native English speakers throughout schools in France as an English teaching assistant. The French school system is divided in académies which are large school districts. My acceptance says that I will be in the académie and greater area of Bordeaux, and I will find out my specific city and school placement soon, though I know I will be at a primary school.
I will be keeping this blog to chronicle my experience for the year in France. During my semester in Nantes I kept a journal that I wrote in toujours (My host dad would joke—"am I witnessing the writing of the next great American novel?"). This time I want to share my thoughts, observations, and daily life on a public forum so my friends and family at home know what I’m up to. Feeling nothing but gratitude to not only be employed after graduation, but to be doing what I love in the place I love. The adventure awaits!

travel

Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, & Nice

5:18 PM

After leaving Nantes, Brigit, Hannah and I spent a week traveling in the south of France. It was a wonderful way to end my sojourn in France.

Marseille was a lovely city. The culture of the south is very different than that of the north, and it was interesting to see these differences. Another major difference...the weather! No offense, Nantes, but I missed beautiful, sunny days.

We also took a day trip from Marseille to Aix-en-Provence. It was a beautiful and charming city! I also got a chance to see my friend Lauren while we were there! She studied in Aix this semester and was finishing up finals and it was so great to see her. It was fun to talk about our programs, adjusting to life in France, and our semester experiences in general. We've been the two original French majors from the beginning and have had many French classes together, so it was an exhilarating feeling to be meeting up in France, something we've been looking forward to since our freshman year!

Avec Lauren!

After Marseille, we trained to Nice! This was my absolute favorite part of our trip. At this point I got over the initial heartsickness of leaving Nantes and the fact that I was about to leave my two close friends, uncertain of when I would see them again, and these final days together were absolutely lovely.

Have you ever seen water this blue?!

Riding down the boulevard des anglais with Brigit!

Our farewell dinner

The next day Brigit flew to Ireland to meet up with her parents and me and Hannah flew to Paris. The last leg of our French adventure!

study abroad

Goodbye Nantes

5:01 PM

I somehow ended up finishing finals on Wednesday, which meant that I was free to join my host family in Piriac for the Ascension holiday! Brigit was also done which meant she could join us, and it was the absolute perfect ending to my time with my host family, and the best start to summer!

Charming Piriac

Louis BEGGED me to go swimming in the icy Atlantic. As you can tell from the photo, I obliged. It was painfully cold but so fun!

Exploring Piriac at dusk with Brigit and Louis

What a squad

First time seeing a sunset over the ocean #eastcoastprobs

Goodbye ma famille française!

With my host dad and Louis

Goodbye my petit frère!

After saying goodbye to my host family, I returned to Nantes with Brigit and her host mom. I spent the night with my friends French and American and we said our goodbyes. I tearfully finished packing with some help with Monsieur and prepared for the trip to the south.

Leaving Nantes made my heart hurt, I will return one day! I'm beyond thankful for the memories and experiences I gained from this semester. Many thanks to my French and American friends and my host family! An unforgettable four months that will forever be in my heart.

Goodbye, the beautiful, the quaint and the classic "chez moi"

study abroad

Happiness. Fin.

4:41 PM

And just like that this semester is coming to a close. I’m in the midst of finals right now and among the stress of studying I keep reminding myself to treasure the little moments of my routine that I have taken for granted that are about to end. Today was particularly lovely, I got home earlier than usual because since we are in exam period there’s no classes. When I got home Louis asked if we could watch Modern Family on my laptop, (we are currently binge-watching the series together in French). As we started the season 2 finale, with his little arms wrapped around mine and his head resting on my shoulder, I started to tear up thinking about how this part of my routine that I so adore is about to become nothing but a sweet memory.

Classique...

After watching about 6 episodes in a row (what is studying?) and significantly depleting my battery, it was time to eat dinner. It was Louis’ birthday yesterday so we celebrated his birthday dinner today! I found it absolutely hilarious that for his 12th birthday he requested steak tartare and french fries for dinner. For dessert there was a raspberry tart and we sang “Happy Birthday” (in English!) My host family giggled at my singing in correct english void of a french accent. After dessert Louis opened his presents from his extended family before going around and giving everyone a gros bise. I gave Louis his present yesterday and he nearly tackled me in a hug with the unexpected gesture.

Last weekend we decided to go to the Nid to watch the sunset. It was absolutely wonderful and bittersweet to take in this beauty of a place that will soon be thousands of miles away with friends who will soon be thousands of miles away.

"Les filles" so thankful that I met these amazing women in this whirlwind semester!

I said goodbye to Theo, Margaux and Chloé, the kids I tutored in English, and Theo made chouquettes!

We also had our farewell dinner with my abroad program. The dinner was on a boat that went down the Erdre and it was so fun to get dressed up and be with everyone one last time. Me and my friends were being wild as usual, so we had a lot of fun at the dinner...