Bonjour! From the Students Abroad in France
Sixteen seniors are spending their fall term abroad in Grenoble, France. They write to The Exonian about their experiences, diet and thoughts on French culture.
Hello from across the Atlantic! Coucou! Salutations de Grenoble! For those of you who are at all interested in hearing about our trip, here are a couple of our favorite moments from our stay here. And for those of you who aren’t interested, we’re sacrificing our kilts for this so read it anyway.
Grenoble is a small city (a little smaller than we were expecting, but that makes it harder to get lost) outside of Lyon, surrounded by the beautiful Alps. Our main focus here is to improve our French and immerse ourselves in the French culture—one baguette at a time. We each live with a host family, some in the heart of the city and others in the beautiful countryside.
While we learn the language in class, we are given more valuable lessons in our homes here. Our host families are very generous—often proposing hikes on the weekends, inviting us to meet their friends and teaching us the necessities of French life.
Our school here is situated along the river “L’Isère” and from the classroom windows we have a lovely view of the mountains encircling Grenoble, famous for their production of Chartreuse—an herbal liquor manufactured by local monks. We take our classes at a local university called “Universite Inter-Ages du Dauphine.” You might be confused with the words Inter-Ages; we were too. After timidly walking into our new school building the first day, excited by the prospect of meeting French students, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves surrounded by seniors of a different sense. We share the hallways with French retirees studying any number of things from Hieroglyphics to Spanish. It is sometimes amusing to hear an English lesson going on in the room next to us.
On class days, we study French literature, language, culture, film and art. Thursdays are known as “excursion days,” when we explore various art around the city and the towns around us. We’ve also taken excursions to Lyon, Aix-en-Provence and Paris.
The visit to Paris has been a highlight for us. Though we left Grenoble under the veil of taking the ACT, our trip comprised of much more. Our youth hostel was in the historic Marais district, located in a part of 3e and 4e arrondissements on the right bank of the Seine. We loved strolling the narrow alleyways of the Jewish quarter, as well as enjoying some of the innovation of the up-and-coming district; namely the actress Scarlett Johansson’s pop-up popcorn shop. Our days were filled with fabulous museum visits, guided tours of historic neighborhoods and even an organ concert at the famous Notre Dame cathedral.
We spent a day exploring the Palace of Versailles, which lies a few metro stops outside of the city. While the interior of Versailles was ornate and smothered in gold filings and cherub statues as expected, we found the gardens to be a pleasant surprise. We were given two hours to explore the manicured estate, where we found classical music playing at every turn from hidden speakers in the greenery.
This weekend we’ll be traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, to take the SAT. We considered ourselves to be far more cultured than when we arrived. Our appreciation of art and culture has blossomed, so get ready Exonians, campus will be much more colorful upon our return…
Keep in mind, apart from our long days of study, we’ve been engaging in classic French activities such as eating bread, eating cheese and eating croissants! We will all be returning to campus a little more plump than usual, just preparing ourselves for the chilly New England winter that awaits. Our claims of “diet szn starting Monday” haven’t exactly worked out. But we aren’t too worried, seeing as we have three more Mondays left to cut the carbs.
Aside from getting a sports credit from trudging up the Bastille, an ancient military fortification overlooking the city, on a gorgeous fall day, we have gotten steps under our belts after exploring the bountiful gardens of Versailles, dodging through excited tourists to enter the Louvre and running to catch the bus. Jenny Hunt and Isabel Bitman even walked 40,000 steps each one day in Paris!
In all seriousness though, rest assured that we miss all of you slaving away back there in the bubble. But all the same, if Trump wins, don’t expect to see us again for the next four years.