Sorry, it has been a while since my last email. I’ll give you an update on what’s been going on. We had our Paris/Toulouse/Barcelona week-long bus trip at the end of February. It was exhausting but a lot of fun!
We started in Paris and spent two days there. We took a bus tour around and stopped to visit some main attractions (Eiffel Tower, l’Arc de Triomphe, Champs Élysées, the Louvre). After that, we headed to Toulouse and visited some beautiful castles along the way. We took a guided tour in Toulouse and had some free time.
After that, we hopped back on the bus for many hours and finally made it to Barcelona (my favourite part of the trip). One of my favourite parts of the whole bus trip was visiting the Sagrada Familia, it is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve been on my exchange so
far. We had free time in the centre of Barcelona, and I had a lot of fun getting to know the other exchange students.
We visited a giant hospital that is now a historical museum. We finished our time in Barcelona by visiting the Salvador Dali museum. I’ll attach some photos from the bus trip too.
I’ve been able to participate in a few different Rotary organized events with my club including a highway cleanup day and La Salon de Bière, which is a really cool event where the club in Chelles raises money by selling beer tastings, cheese tastings, baked goods, crepes, gourmet hot dogs as well as live music. I even got to participate in the tastings and learn about how different cheeses and beers are made.
Our district has finally authorised us to visit Paris alone during the week, so I have been able to see much more of Paris this past couple of months. I even visited Notre Dame cathedral after the fire this week and got to see it first hand.
My second host family is great, and I’ve gotten a lot closer with them lately. They are taking me with them to the south of France for the break next week, and I’m looking forward to it.I’m going to be switching to my third host family sometime in the week after we come back. I already know my third family quite well, and I’ve become friends with the two host sisters that are my age. It’s going to be sad to leave my current host family, but I’m excited to live with my third one.
On my free time here I usually go out with the other exchange students or with my friends from school either to Paris or somewhere in Chelles.
Our Europe bus trip is from the 17th to the 28th of June, and my return flight is booked for the 6th of July. We will be visiting Paris, Strasbourg, Munich, Prague, Vienne, Venise, Milan, Chamonix and Genève.
I think these last couple of months are going to fly by. I’m looking forward to coming home and seeing my family and friends, but I know it will be heartbreaking to leave my life here behind.
I hope you’re well and have a great time in Russel. I can’t believe it’s been a year since I was there with the other Outbounds.