First Few Days In France

I'm sitting in my hotel room after a two hour walking tour around Dijon. I should be napping, but there is so much from the past few days that I want to share, so now is the best time.

Friday and Saturday were exhausting. I flew out of Charlotte at 12 only to have a 6 hour layover in Cincinatti. Not fun at all. I spent the time walking, eating, reading, more walking, more reading....internet costed $7.99 and I was just not going to pay that! (Thank you Mary for giving me the book Redeeming Love as a going away present!!! I love it, and was so excited to read parts of it and then get out my Bible and read parts of the book of Hosea, which is where the author found inspiration for her novel. The book definitely kept me occupied in the airport and on the plane.)

Lauren, a friend who is also here in Dijon for the semester, met up with me and we took the same flight from Cincinatti to Paris. The flight was fine, rather short...just under 8 hours! I slept a bit, but sleeping on planes, even in cars, has always been difficult for me. Breakfast on the plane was an egg and cheese biscuit...it was good except for the fact that it was packaged like a Little Debbie cake or something...how egg and cheese and a biscuit can be pre-made and packaged like that, I don't want to know. Ick.

As we flew over Paris, I caught a brief glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I can't wait to spend time there!

Lauren and I got off the plane, went through customs, and then got our luggage. I hate to say it, but I was that token American with two massive suitcases, a small suitcase, and a book bag. To make matters worse, Lauren and I were trying to find our friends Kara and Carleigh who had landed in a different terminal. Long story short, we finally found them and after waiting in the wrong place for about 30 minutes, boarded the shuttle for Gare de Lyon, the train station. I, however, still bear the marks and bruises which are my punishment for taking so many bags.

The Gare de Lyon is beautiful...I would love to have seen it even 50 years ago before all the advertisements and such took over. After buying my first french sandwich (ordered in French!), we sat and waited for our train to Dijon.

The ride to Dijon was about an hour and half, and the train meandered through beautiful countryside. I tried to sleep, and managed for a bit. Once in Dijon, we took a taxi to our hotel, where we met the rest of our group.

Last night was super fun. We went to dinner with our professor at Les Grands Ducs, a little restaurant near our hotel. I ordered steak hache, which is essentially like a hamburger with no bun. However, its flavored differently and was quite good. It came with fries and salad. French people eat mayonaise on their french fries. Paula Dean, bless her, had already introduced me to this delicious-ness, so I had no problem with that. Dinner was washed down with a red wine, and desert was a banana split. Delicieuse!

After walking around town for a bit, Professor Barbour left us to return to her appartment. My group consists of 9 Wake Forest students, 6 girls and 3 guys (one guy, Miles, is not here yet as he is having trouble with his visa). Kara's birthday began at midnight last night, so naturally we went out to celebrate her birthday and our first night in France. We went to a local bar, Club 88, and had a great time. We met a lot of local french youth like ourselves and were introduced to their hang out spot, a small square with a fountain and lots of benches. I met a girl named Lucie who told me my French accent was very good. That compliment almost made me cry.

After sleeping through our alarms and finding ourselves with a mere 20 minutes to get ready, today we set off for a walking tour of Dijon. We ate lunch at a place called Flunch, kind of like a K&W Cafeteria but better. A cute French woman gave us our tour, which was very interesting. Dijon is beautiful...there is so much history here, and the buildings are truly outstanding. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

I've been realizing over the past two days something very important: People are the same everywhere. Love, happiness, pain. French children are exactly the same as American children (although perhaps cuter). Families are the same. Friends are the same. Meeting other French people, talking with them...its shown me that everyone connects on the same level. The level of being alive. I've been here for two days, but not once have a really and truly felt like I didn't belong, even though I am an American.

I miss my family and my friends, and it still has yet to hit me that I am living here for the next three months. But, if anything, these past two days have shown me that I am going to be just fine.

And I'm going to love it.