Well, my time in Besancon has come to an end, but it was an amazing experience.  Saying goodbye to my host mom and fellow CLA students was sad but I am happy to know that I will still see all of my new friends from Penn State back at school.  But, it was not time for me to return home yet.  My father had some friends in Denmark so we met in Besancon and flew to Copenhagen before I could finally return to the USA.

This was my first time in Denmark or even a Scandinavian country, and it was the most northern I have ever been.  Because it is summer, this meant it was light out from nearly 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.  I found that interesting right off the bat.  When we got to Copenhagen, we saw a cool church spire, and as we got closer we realized visitors were allowed to climb to the top.  We did, and we got an amazing view of the whole city – I thought it was a great introduction to Copenhagen.

When in Copenhagen, you have to get your picture with the statue of The Little Mermaid, so I made sure to go there, as well.  Copenhagen is a major port city so there were ships everywhere, including many cruise ships.  It also had lots of canals, and it reminded me of Amsterdam with many thin houses right up against the water.  After a day in Copenhagen, we went to the second largest city in Denmark, Aarhus.  The train ride was three and a half hours and because Denmark is made up of many islands we went over many bridges.

Aarhus was a very nice little city which had an open air museum called The Old Town.  It had historical buildings from many different centuries that visitors could walk around and explore.  Afterwards we went to our friend’s house and had dinner with them.  They were hosting a visiting Chinese couple that actually made us Chinese food.  Although I am not crazy about Chinese food in the U.S, the food they made us was delicious.       

We returned to Copenhagen the next day where we took a quick trip to Helsingor to see Kronborg Castle, the castle in the play Hamlet.  It was amazing, and I am really glad I got to explore it even if we went too late to see the ballrooms.  Back in Copenhagen, we walked down the Stroget, the longest pedestrian street in Europe.  We even went in to Tivoli Gardens to see the rides and the lit-up buildings.  It was beautiful! 

Tomorrow morning is our plane to JFK Airport!  This week has been really fun and I know I am going to miss the time I got to spend in Besancon, but I am definitely ready to go back to the United States, see my family and sleep in my own bed!

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

The Tour de France is a famous bike race that takes place every year with multiple legs in ever-changing towns and cities all around the country.  However, the last leg always takes place in Paris with the final stretch along the Champs-Elysees.   This year the leg of the race that came right before the final Paris leg was in Annecy, France, an eastern town near the Alps.

Five other Penn Staters and I went to go see this leg.  We left Friday afternoon to take a train to Annecy, which was about a three-hour ride.  I loved seeing the hills of the Jura slowly get taller as we approached the Alps.  Annecy sits right on the end of Lake Annecy, which looked beautiful from the train car.  The race itself was actually going to take place right on the edge of the lake.

It was a little stormy out so we got dinner and then headed over to where the race was beginning so we would know where to go the next morning.  Workers were busy moving around trucks and putting up fences while huge gray clouds floated overhead and gusts of wind made water splash up onto the boardwalks.  It was a little surreal seeing such rough weather paired with the beautiful mountains across the lake.  Fortunately it was nicer on the day of the race.

The next day we woke up early and headed over to the park by the lake.  I had seen the Tour de France on television in the past but I have never really been a fan of professional bicycling so I had no idea what to expect.  There were booths with sponsors, official boutiques selling Tour de France gear, large bleachers and a cleared out area where the team buses were going to arrive.  We did not have to pay to go and walk around or watch the race, we just had to walk up to the side of the street.

After about an hour the crowd really began to grow and the excitement began to build.  We found a spot by the edge of the road and watched a parade with floats for each of the Tour’s sponsors, playing music and throwing the occasional gift into the crowd, like tee-shirts or free samples.  By now the fences for the race has been put up and the team buses had arrived and you could watch the cyclists stretching or signing autographs.

Eventually it became time for the race to start.  We were right by the starting point where the crowd was the largest and we ran to find a spot with a good view of the cyclists.  People were climbing walls and trees to try and get a shot of the race.  Fortunately we found a spot just in time to watch the bikers going zooming by to the sound of cheers.

And just like that, they were gone.  The crowd slowly dissipated into the nearby shops and restaurants of Annecy and my group and I got some ice cream.  It would seem like a town filled with tourists would be annoying or take away from the visit, but it actually added to Annecy’s charm.  I think it might have been the most beautiful place I have ever visited, and to experience it during a major international sporting event was priceless.

Location: Annecy, France

In between the June and July classes, the CLA has a week off.  This gave us Penn Staters a week off to go explore other places in Europe.  While some chose to travel around to other places in France, others went to countries like Portugal, Spain or the Netherlands.  Along with one other girl from Penn State, I decided to go to Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria.

We left for Paris on June 21, the day of the Fete de la Musique, a huge music festival that takes place all around France.  There we went to Gare de Lyon to take an overnight train to Munich.  In Munich we stayed in a hostel for two nights- my first time staying in a hostel.  Although it was rainy the whole time in Munich, we made the most of our time there.  We peeked inside the many churches and lost ourselves in the Rathaus (the German word for town hall).  Then the afternoon of the first day, we went to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp, which was very emotional.

On the second day we took a train to Fussen and a bus to Hohenschwangau to see the Neuschwanstein Castle.  Although the route was complicated and we actually got sent in the wrong direction when our train split, we got there and it was incredibly beautiful. 

For the second half of our week we went to Salzburg, Austria.  However, we still could not avoid the rain until our very last day in Austria on Thursday when the sun finally made an appearance.  Despite the unfavorable weather, we got Salzburg Cards that gave us free access to many popular tourist attractions.  We got to see museums like the Salzburg Museum, churches like the Salzburg Cathedral (Dom) and castles like Hohensalzburg.  We ended up spending four days in Salzburg, most of it looking for the locations used in the Sound of Music movie.  I did not know much about Salzburg before I went but I left loving the city.

On Saturday I took a train back to Besancon via Zurich and rested for a little bit before going on a hike with my host mom on Sunday.  Classes began again on Tuesday where I got a whole new class with all new classmates!  I am a little upset that I have to go to class at 8:30 now with my new class but that means I will have an extra hour each day to explore Besancon!

Location: Salzburg, Austria

The school I am studying at, the CLA, organizes optional excursions for students on the weekends that cost usually around 30-50 euros.  Though most are to nearby French cities, the occasional excursion will go to neighboring Switzerland.  Last Saturday I went to Neuchatel and Bern, Switzerland, on one of these excursions.  This was my first time in Switzerland so I was genuinely excited for the couple of days leading up to the trip. 

We met in the morning in front of the school where two buses waited for us all to take our seats.  Then, we took a beautiful ride through the Jura Mountains eventually crossing into Switzerland.  I thought it was interesting that we did not have to stop to cross into Switzerland.  I later learned that this is because of Shengen Agreement, a treaty that allows travel without border checks between the agreeing countries.

Our first stop was at the Swiss city of Neuchatel.  Very close to the French border, it was in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.  We went to the Chaumont Panorama Tower and saw a view of Lake Neuchatel, as well as miles and miles of Switzerland and even the Alps off in the distance.  For lunch we drove down the hill and sat by the lake, watching ships sail and people play volleyball.  We even got to put our feet in the water.  After that, it was back on the bus.

We drove to Bern and were given a tour of The Rose Garden, which overlooked the city.  Then we were given an hour to walk around the center of Bern, which had lots of shops, cute houses and fountains – I got some ice cream.  The hills, the rivers, everything was so picturesque and perfect.  I definitely did not see enough of Switzerland but it was an amazing introduction!  At this point I am just blown away by how beautiful every place has been.

Location: Bern, Switzerland

            I have been in Besancon for a few days now but the initial shock of such a huge change has not yet faded away.  I am still waiting for this big adjustment to become “normal life.”   I am living inside the city of Besancon with a French family, made up by a woman named Marie-France and occasionally one of her three grown-up children if they visit her.  I am also sharing a house with another student from Penn State named Fiona!  I did not make a request to be with another student but I am really grateful it worked out that way.  It is nice to have someone to do things with at the house or help communicate with our host family in case I misunderstand something.

            One of my major concerns was that my French would not be good enough.  On top of that, my host family does not speak any English.  However, in the first few days I have become certain that I know more than enough French to get by – and I already see myself improving!  Everyone told me before I went on my trip, that my French would get better just by being in France, and I realize now it is because it is all about practice.  New words that are used often get ingrained in your mind and important phrases and tenses become second nature.  I am really looking forward to see how much more I will improve.            

            Besancon itself is beautiful!  There is a lot of history from Vaubon’s Citadel (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), to the Roman Ruins that just casually sit in the city’s center.  The CLA is very close to the center of the city, so almost everyone from Penn State takes the bus to get to class every morning.  They have monthly passes so the process was simple, but be sure to bring passport photos for the bus card!  Class, depending on your French level, can go from 8:30 to 3:30, 9:30 to 4:30 or 10:30 to 5:30, with a two-hour lunch break.  My class starts at 9:30, which I am pretty happy about.  The classes are completely in French, but the placement exam on the Monday before classes start put everyone in an appropriate level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 or C2).  I think what I like most about the CLA is that I get to meet and interact with people all over the world who have also come to learn French.  Libya, Botswana, South Korea, Switzerland, Iraq – and so many more!

Location: Besancon, France