Henry Hylbert's France Exchange

The Flight

On May 30th my parents dropped me off at the Nashville airport for a flight at 1pm. As soon as I saw the expressions on the faces of my three other classmates, I instantly smiled with nervous anticipation for the journey to France. I then turned and saw my teacher, Mr. Trotter, greeting and organizing everyone with a warm presence. The first leg of the flight to Detroit was a simple hour and a half ordeal, we got off the plane to pass time during our layover, preparing for the middle leg. The movement overseas was long and hard mentally but once in Paris everyone rejoiced for there was only a 30 minute flight left to Bordeaux.   

Bordeaux

At the airport in Bordeaux, the four of us were without our teacher and followed his directions to meet our ride at baggage claim. Madame LeClercq, an English teacher at La Sauque, the school in which we stayed,greeted us happily. We arrived at the school at 11:30 am just in time for lunch, hence the first thing that we experienced was the french food. As I found out in every part of the trip, the cuisine represents the heart and soul of french culture. I learned how students my age eat, their diets, and the times their meals were. The boarding school itself provided me opportunities to learn their culture in sports, living, and academia. We took excursions to La Dune du Pilat, a massive sand dune, and to the breach at lLeBassin d’Arcachon. The two weeks at la Sauque changed the way I thought. I finally had a comprehensive understanding of another culture which I am very grateful for.

St. André de Cubzac

My host family lived here, a suburb of Bordeaux, where there were gorgeous vineyards and a beautiful view of the river, La Dordogne. Their house had a peaceful ambience with a nice yard and pool. Inside the kitchen was the first room to walk into, possibly a symbol representing the niche food has in French culture. I had met my host brother, Baptiste, at the school, but the first weekend at this house was spent only with his father and one of his sisters for he was playing horseball in Paris. This situation brought me closer to his father and sister and I ate the best fish in my life when we went out to Bordeaux together. My family taught me the ins and outs of french history, wine, and most importantly cuisine. I spent eleven days here in total and formed a great relationship with my family who I hope to see again soon!

Biarritz

Pierre Amourous invited the four students form MBA to his house in the southwestern costal city of Biarritz. He came to MBA for six months through the exchange program and unselfishly had us stay in his lovely house in the center of the ville, a minute’s walk away from, the epic surfing beaches. We stayed here for a weekend and we treated to the seafood side of french cuisine. I ate oysters, escargot, and tuna in a restaurant overlooking the coast and beautiful sunset. We rented boards and surfed with Pierre as our instructor. I am truly thankful to Pierre’s family for housing us and revealing another side of France in the Basque Country.

Paris

After three weeks well spent in Bordeaux, Mr. Trotter met the four of us in the Bordeaux train station as we said our goodbyes to our host families and friends. We then enjoyed a two hour train to Paris where everything was completely different. Immediately the sounds and atmosphere were different. There were more people, more noise, more smells, as everything seemed bigger but magnified at the same time. At every corner there was action, something going on. We walked to our pad and started exploring the Paris scene. At every tourist sight I noticed the beauty but also the dilution of native french people in Paris because of the number of foreign tourists. Understanding that I was contributing to the equation I continued to find Paris an overwhelmingly cosmopolitan city, different from Bordeaux, St. André de Cubzac, and Biarritz. All four of our days were filled with activities, planned and explorations. Nights werespent experiencing the unbelievable Paris cuisine and brilliant light in the “city of light”. The four days in Paris ignited my passion for the arts through visiting the museums, and going to the Quartier de Montmartre. Paris tied together an amazing journey, and I was happy that the five of us were together at the end.

Thank you

I’d like to thank the Wilson family and Mr. Gioia for making this trip possible. I am truly thankful for your generosity and the amazing language program at MBA. Thank you Mr.Trotter for teaching me French and being a great mentor and friend. I am grateful for my classmates who are equally enthusiastic about French and push me to become a better pupil of the language.To my host family and friends in France, I hope we can reunite later and I thank you for your hospitality. All in all I had the best time of my life in France and am deeply grateful to all that made this possible.