France Language and Cooking: Daniel Mace

6/28 – We arrived in Paris very tired. Checked into our hotel and then went to a garden to meet everyone and have a general orientation. We had a scavenger hunt where we searched for postcards, stamps, phonecards and metro tickets. Afterwards, the group met back up at the hotel and went to a creperie. We were all exhausted – so much so that several group members fell asleep at the table! The dinner was a great start to what I hoped would be a trip filled with excellent food. I ate a crepe with roasted duck covered in a foie gras sauce. After dinner everyone quickly fell asleep at the hotel.

7/01 – Today we finally got to sleep in late – until 9 – and then had a free day to explore Paris. I went with my roommate Ben from New York to the Centre Pompidou. The building itself was very interesting architecturally speaking with the outside covered in pipes of different colors. Originally, each color was coordinated to a different use – for instance blue for all the water pipes – but apparently, further renovation prevented this coordination to remain. Inside, the ticket taker was kind enough to allow me free admission, despite being over 18, since my friend was under 18. The art itself was all contemporary and abstract but much more interesting than I originally expected.

The exterior of the Centre Pompidou

One of the many water sculptures surrounding the Centre Pompidou

Afterwards, we had to rush down the Rue de Rivoli to go to Angelina’s, a famous restaurant particularly well known for its desserts. Dinner was most certainly the strangest meal I've ever had. The restaurant, "Dans La Nuit," was served entirely by blind waiters and the dining room was pitch black. Combining the lack of light with a severe language barrier, it was a complete leap of faith to try the food, with my hands for obvious safety reasons.Despite my trepidation, the food was amazing, although there were a few dishes that I never actually figured out what I was eating.

7/02 – Today we spent the entire day traveling from Paris first by coach to the train station Paris-Gare de Bercy. From there, we took a train to Clermont Ferrand. Finally, from this small train station we took a charter bus to our small village that would be our home for the next week, St. Rome de Dolan. The village itself is set on the side of the Gorges du Tarn and is used almost exclusively during the summer months a vacation homes. I’m almost positive that when we arrived we nearly doubled the population.

The view from our hostel

Our hostel

We stayed in one large hostel that was relatively nice and quite spacious compared to the cramped rooms of Paris. Soon enough, however, we all began to notice little things about the hostel that began to annoy many on the trip. For instance, the hot water was very sporadic, especially when all the 24 students attempted to shower all at once before language classes each day. In addition, the building had a terrible fly infestation that was so bad it prevented sleep in the early morning but provided a fun pastime during the afternoons of fly killing. The classes were informative and challenging but had to be quite broad in their focus given the limited time spent in language training. The best part about St. Rome de Dolan had to be the scenery. Every sunset was amazing and the frequent runs I took here were without a doubt the most picturesque runs I’ve ever been on. However, I must admit, the high altitude did add a degree of hidden difficulty to every step. French class consumed most mornings but in the afternoons we would go to different local attractions including several cheese farms with every tour graciously including a cheese tasting at the end.

Sheep

7/08 – Today we traveled first in the morning to the town of Millau – quite a welcome break from complete isolation in the mountains. There was a local market with food, art and clothing. Right before lunch, we headed over the famous viaduc of Millau and stopped at its base to watch a short but dramatic documentary on its incredible construction. Shortly after the video, we stopped again for lunch near the Roquefort cheese caves. After our picnic lunch we went to the Roquefort cheese caves, the only place in the world where Roquefort cheese is produced and took a tour of the facilities. The most overwhelming aspect of our tour was without a doubt the smell. In addition, while the weather outside the cave was balmy and sunny, most of the group was caught off guard by the damp chilled air within the cave. Despite these less than desirable conditions, it was all worth it when the tour concluded with a tasting of several different Roquefort cheeses.

7/19 - Today I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with another host family to the Tour de France. When I first woke up around 8, rain was pouring down and I was told that the Tour had been canceled for the day. Disappointed, I went back to bed for an hour before my host mother woke me back up and told me that it had only been delayed and that I would be going around 1:00. When we arrived, my friend's host brother Nans, normally quite reserved, told us that we would be participating in a French protest. The protest itself was over the hydraulic fracturing methods to drill for natural gas. We did not actually do much beside stand on the side of the road trying to attract the camera's attention but I felt very culturally immersed participating in a typical French protest.

"Stop au gaz de schiste"

The race itself was interesting, however, the TV coverage fails to capture just how quickly the bikes pass by. Within 20 seconds, the bikes were out of sight and the crowd already dispersing. I enjoyed seeing the Tour but after such a quick sighting, I understood why my host family had not wished to come along.

20 seconds of the Tour

For dinner, my host father, a volunteer fireman, decided to barbecue. Shortly before dinnertime I could smell smoke from my room. Alarmed, I walked outside to see the grill surrounded by a plume of dark smoke with my host father frantically waving the hose around it.

My host father's firetruck

Pretty soon, the entire family including the Spanish exchange student and the Spanish teacher was outside watching the great firefight. Despite the language barrier, the irony of my host father, a volunteer fireman, lighting his grill on fire, was not lost on me.

8/01 - Today was our last day in France. We had traveled by TGV from Lyon to Paris early that morning. For lunch, we went as a group to a famous food truck known for its falafel. Afterwards, we had the day to ourselves and I decided to make the most of it by going to the Musee d'Orsay. Dinner that night had been planned at an extremely fancy restaurant but a few short hours before the meal, we were told by our group leader that there were some minor financial problems and we were forced to have a slight downgrade in our restaurant choice. Despite the difficulties, the new restaurant exceeded my expectations and was quite a meal to end my trip to France.

In closing, my journey through France has been one that I will never forget. I improved my French immensely and absorbed priceless observations on French culture in general. Without MBA and the Wilson Language Grant, this trip would have never been possible and I cannot express my thanks enough.