Paris et la Camargue- Franklin Gaglione

This summer I was extremely privileged to travel to France with my Wilson Language Grant through the Experiment in International Living. Our trip began in Paris with a four day orientation, during which we went to famous sites such as Le Louvre, Notre Dame, and Le Cafe Procope. While we saw all of these famous sites, we also went to some less well known sites in Paris, including the Algerian quarter and the numerous petits cafes all across Paris as everyone in my group began to be better acquainted with each other.


This is the Centre Pompidou, an art museum famous in Paris for its originality.









In this picture group members Annlady, Esi, and I are standing in front of the extremely well-known Eiffel Tower on a beautiful day in Paris



In one of our last afternoons in Paris, my friends Annlady, Taylor and Noah smile for me as we listened to an impromptu concert on the steps in front of Le Sacre Coeur in the beautiful neighborhood of Montmartre.







In our last afternoon in orientation, one of my group members took a picture of our exhaustion as we waited to go to the upper levels of Notre Dame. From left to right my friends Calvin, Hannah, Anamaria, and Kaela were very tired.





As our time in Paris ended we boarded a TGV train and made our way to our homestay in Nimes, a beautiful town in the south of France. This we where I met the Grangette family, an extremely welcoming and warm family that I felt a member with immediately.



This is a picture of the ancient coliseum in Nimes, which was built in Roman times, and is today used as a Camargue bullfighting arena and a popular venue for world class musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Pink, ZZ Top, and Vampire Weekend.







These two photos were taken at my house in Nimes. The Grangette family had one of the most beautiful and unique homes I have ever seen. Notice the fishtank built into the wall on the left photo. The right picture is my backyard, and what you can't see is the swimming pool at the end of the backyard.



These next two pictures are from the goodbye party that we had for our host families. Each member of the group wrote and gave a thank you speech to our families to show our gratitude. On the right is the best picture I have with my host parents Isabelle and Remy, and siblings Eve and Timothee. I became especially good friends with Timothee and I continue to stay in contanct with him.

As we said goodbye to our wonderful host siblings and parents in tears, we pushed forward and began the last segment of our trip. We took a two hour bus ride and stopped at a Mas in the Camargue region of France. During this time, we rode the famous white Camargue horses, lived in cabins, and saw a very different part of France than I had ever considered. We were surrounded by farms, cattle, and horses.



The left picture is of the cabin that Calvin, Noah, Chris, and I lived in during our stay in the Mas, and in the right is one of the many breathtaking views I saw during my short stay in the Camargue.







These final two pictures are from our last night in Paris after we left the Camargue. These pictures show how great our friendships grew as our trip continued.




I first want to thank the Wilson Family for this life changing opportunity. I would never have been able to meet the amazing people that I befriended and go to the incredible places I went to, along with speak the language that I love so much. I can never thank the Wilson Family enough for this incredible grant they gave to me