Day 68-73: Besancon and Paris

First of all, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for my blogging hiatus. It has been one month since I have blogged, not because there was nothing to blog about though! In fact, I have had so much to blog that I didn't actually have time to sit down and type! So please accept this apology and enjoy the next few entries as I recount the last few weeks of adventures I have had in Europe.

Lets rewind to March (yes March!). Seems like a long time ago (as it was!), but my trip to France is still fresh in my mind!

Wednesday, March 24

On March 24, I left early in the morning for Besancon, France to visit my ASC friend Ashley Williams. I was pretty exhausted from the night before, which was an ESN mentor dinner and theme party, Sexchange! All the boys had to dress up like girls, and the girls like the guys! I borrowed a shirt from my friend Daniel and drew on a mustache. You never would have known you were talking with a girl! (okay, it wasn't that believable, but some of my friends went ALL out with their costumes!) Anyways, I called it an early night and chose not to go to the LG, as I had to get up early for my train trek to France the next day.

I woke up super early on Wednesday 24th to get down to Tilburg Central station to get my train ticket validated. I had purchased a regional Eurail pass for this trip. This allowed me five days of unlimited train travel between France and the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) within two months. It worked out to be a pretty sweet deal, as I did not have to buy a bunch of train tickets. I simply had to log each journey that I took on my ticket and mark the days that I choose to travel. So Wednesday was day one of my rail pass and I made good use of it. It was a super long day on the trains ... nearly eight hours of train riding and changing! That's as long as it takes me to get from Agnes Scott back home to Florida! But it was a really great ride. I went through Brussels, down to Paris where I had to take the RER (a regional French train) from Paris Nord to Paris Gare Lyon. I was super-nervous about this part of the journey as it involved buying an RER ticket and figuring out the whole system, but it actually went very smoothly! I even met a nice man on the RER who told me that I was indeed going in the correct direction! I had to rely on my limited knowledge of French (all three phrases!) to manage my way back from Paris to Besancon. The phrase, "Parlex-vouz anglais?" became my best friend! I had to use it often as i wandered through the train stations as folk tried to speak to me in French. Somehow I managed my way through and got on the final TGV train from Paris Lyon to Besancon. Luckily the ticket checker stopped by shortly after I got on the train, because as he looked at my ticket he told me I would have to get off and move to the front carriage of the train when it stopped in Dijon since the train would split and the part I was on would not go to Besancon. I was thankful and heeded his warning, finally arriving in Besancon at around 5 o'clock. As the train pulled into the station, I saw Ashley anxiously waiting for me at the platform. What a relief!

Stepping of the train I ran and gave my friend a big hug. It was so good to see her again! She introduced me to her friend Aurore, who had come with Ashley to the train station to welcome me to Besancon. The three of us chatted as we headed out of the train station and through the park outside into the city centre of Besancon. We went by Aurore's apartment to drop off my things so that Ashley and I could walk around town for a bit without the hassle of my backpack. Aurore's apartment was adorable! All the way upstairs tucked away in one of the typical French style buildings in downtown Besancon, it was so cute! I especially liked the windy wooden stairs we had to ascend to reach her flat ... a little nerve racking but totally cool!

After setting my things down, Ashley and I went for a nice little walk around town. She showed me here fac (Campus) and some of her favorite places to eat, drink and catch a cup of coffee. First impression of Besancon: ADORABLE! I really liked the quaint little  city. It had so much character! And it was a rather small town, so it seemed really friendly. We began to hear the cry of our rumbling tummies and decided to find something to eat. Looking for an inexpensive bite, we concluded that kebabs were the way to go! I had never had a Turkish kebab, but it turned out to be delicious! We enjoyed a yummy dinner as we caught up about our adventures abroad since our last visit together.

After supper, we roamed the city streets some more before heading into a cafe for some drinks. I took the opportunity to taste a selection of French white wine, while Ashley had a beer. We chatted for a bit before Aurore came downstairs and met us. She ordered a Monaco (a cherry flavoured beer), which we all tried and decided was delicious! Due to the controversial company that occupied a nearby table in the cafe, we decided to leave after one drink and went down the road to another pub to chat some more. This time, we all had a Monaco ... delish!. We enjoyed each others company for a bit before calling it a night. We went back to Aurore's to retrieve my things and then Ashley and I headed back to her French mom's house where we would be staying for the weekend. I was thankful for a nice big comfy bed at Christine's house which was truly adorable! It was a really neat experience staying in a French home. Totally made me feel a part of the culture! Needless to say, I slept well that night after a long day of travelling!

Thursday, March 25

After a good night's rest, I was ready for my first full day in France. Ashley decided to skip her morning class, which was nice, as we got to have a nice breakfast ... and some extra sleep! We began the morning by walking down to the nearby corner bakery to buy a fresh baguette for breakfast. We went back to Christine's and feasted on bread with Nutella, jam and butter with hot coco to drink and some fruit. I decided that I really like French breakfast. I though it was so fun to have to go to the bakery to buy the bread early in the morning. A real French experience :)

After we got ourselves ready, we went to the grocery store across the road and got the groceries before heading into town via bus. It is a very short bus ride from Christine's into the centre of town and to Ashley's fac. We walked around a bit before going to meet Ashley's French friend, Frederique, for lunch at the University cafeteria. We waited in line for a few minutes before collecting our meal. I had some traditional French delicacies: a fish paste and a meat and coos coos dish. It was really tasty! And it was fun to meet Frederique. She and Ashley meet once a week for lunch and to practice English and French with one another. Today we mostly practiced English

After lunch, Ashley showed me the way to the Museum of Time, where she left me while she went to her Art History class. I would have gone with her to class, but her classes are all in French so it would have been rather useless for me! I enjoyed moseying around the museum and looking at all the old  clocks and relics. At the end there was a tower you could climb to the top of. From here I had a very nice view of Besancon. It truly is a cute little city!

After I was through with the museum, I had about an hour before I was to meet Ashley back on campus, so I decided to wander around Besancon a bit on my own. I walked through the streets and took some pictures. Since it was such a beautifully sunny day, I decided to head down to the water (the Doubs River) and walk alongside the river bank. It was really nice to soak in some sunshine and see a bit more of Besancon. Close to four, I began to head back to campus to meet Ashley. I got to meet some more of her friends who were waiting outside with her after class. We said goodbye to then and headed into the town square for a drink. We stopped on the way at Ashley's favourite crepe place in the park near her faculty for a crepe. I had my first French crepe: Nutella ... yummy :) I ate my crepe and soaked in the sun on the steps of one of the buildings in the square. Then we found a quiet cafe in the square and sat in the sun sipping on cold beverages ... quite a change from the hot chocolate norm!

For dinner we headed back to Christine's house. She had been out of town at a conference the evening before, so this was the first time that I would meet her. She had offered to cook a nice French dinner for Ashley and I. We had picked up some dessert pastries and wine earlier in the day, so we bought those to dinner. Christine prepared a nice seafood rice dish, complemented by a baguette and some tasty French wine. We enjoyed her tasty dinner along with one of her friends that was in town and staying with her as well, and Ashley's schoolmate Cyntia. Although most of the dinner conversation took place in French, I enjoyed the meal and the company. Christine is really nice, and I could totally see why Ashley is so thankful to have her!

After dinner, Cyntia, Ashley and I got ready to go out. We were supposed to go to a pajama party at her friend Jose's apartment, but instead we decided to meet up with their friends at the university bar. Christine was so kind as to drive us to the bar. First we stopped by Ashley and Cyntia's dorm building so that they could both grab some things that they needed done. I got to see Ashley's humble abode and realized why we are staying at Christine's and not in her dorm! At the bar there was a charity live music event going on that evening. I met some more of Ashley's friends from school. I was surprised to see the same ESN poster that we have at Tilburg, so of course I got a nice picture with it! We stayed out for quite a while and took the midnight bus back to Christine's.

Friday, March 26


Trip to Paris: To be blogged soon!

Saturday, March 27


I'm not sure of the exact time, but I know we slept pretty late on Saturday! We were so exhausted after our long day in Paris, but I think we eventually woke up about 11 AM and made our way to the bakery for a baguette. We enjoyed a leisurely (and LATE!) breakfast. Then we chilled out for a bit, as the weather was pretty dismal outside. We both checked our school emails and saw that the Agnes Scott course schedule was up for the Fall. We started to make our schedules and discuss the classes we would take. We made a quick run to the grocery store across the street to get a few more things before we made a nice lunch. In the afternoon we attempted to make American chocolate chip cookies. As usual (in Europe) something turned out wrong with the baking process and the cookies didn't turn out too well at first. By the end of the whole batch I had added enough additional flour and sugar that the cookies were a better consistency. It was an interesting baking experience!

 That evening, we went to Aurore's place again for supper. Ashley's friend Pauline joined us as well. Aurore made us yummy dinner from her homeland, Reunion Island (near Malaysia). First she poured us each a glass of punch made with pineapple juice, exotic fresh  fruit and rum from Reunion Island itself! Then she served cabbage fritters, which were heavenly! For supper, she had made a chicken and potato dinner with rice. Ashley and I brought the cookies and some milk for dessert, which Aurore and Pauline absolutely loved! We enjoyed ourselves and the food and had fun playing with Aurore's stuffed toys (especially Eeyore, which she collects!). Ashley and I had a bit of an adventure catching the bus back to Christine's for the evening...let's just say it involved some running!

Sunday, March 28

On Sunday we decided to be a bit more productive than the day before, even though the weather still wasn't cooperating. We enjoyed a nice breakfast (can you guess...another baguette :) before heading out for the day. The whole time I had been in Besancon, everyone that I met had been asking me if I would visit the Citadel while I was there. Naturally, Ashley and I decided to do just that! We took the bus over to that side of town shortly after breakfast. It was interesting getting there,  as there was some sort of festival going on in town since it was Palm Sunday, but we made it over to the Citadel and began our ascent up the hill.

Besancon was once controlled by the Spanish who built the city's fortifications, including the Citadel (which was designed by the architect Vauban). We made our way up the trails and stairs to get some good views of the city and the Doubs River from above (and of course take pics!). We were impressed by the massive fortress that is the Citadel and each of us bought a ticket for the day. The Citadel is not just an old fortress anymore. On the contrary, there is a lot to do there! We went to the zoo, aquarium, Jewish deportation musuem and another cool exhibit. We were there for hours! I especially enjoyed the zoo. We saw lions, tigers (no bears!), flamingos, goats, chickens, rabbits and many more creatures. It was a good reminder of God's awesomeness through His creation on such a say as Palm Sunday. The Jewish deportation musuem was also really interesting and informative. I  thought it was really cool, becuase it told all about the Holocaust from the French (and specifically Besancon) perspective. This was something different to me, as I am used to hearing about it as a general incident in Europe from the 'American' perspective. The museum was also incredibly large, and we began to hear our tummies growl about halfway through our visit!

We finished up and set out from the Citadel in hopes of finding a bite to eat. Besancon is like Tilburg on Sundays....everything is usually closed! However, since today was Palm Sunday and there was a festival (as previously mentioned), some things were miraculously opened! We were far too excited to discover that Ashley's favorite crepe place was open! Naturally, we decided to split a crepe made with orange liquor. So good :) And the man that runs the stand was so sweet and gave us the crepes free of charge, because he knows Ashley is a regular! Afterwards, we wanted to go for a drink, so we went to the square and found a bar that was opened. We decided on Madigon's, the local Irish pub, and sat for a drink (Tequila Sunrise for me!). As it was beginning to near supper time, we headed back to Christine's via bus.

Back at the house, we began to prepare dinner. Tonight we were cooking for Christine! Ashley and I made some tasty French sausage links along with pasta and of course a baguette! We enjoyed our final dinner with Christine, and I got to give her the little housewarming gift I had brought for her from the Netherlands (a set of Dutch porcelain-blue tea cups). We chatted with her for a bit before she headed to bed, as she had to get up early for work. Ashley and I decided to stay in the kitchen for a bit and chat after we finished the dishes. This turned into us eating cookies and drinking wine for the next several hours, a nice calm ending to my final evening in France. We talked for hours and laughed a lot! Eventually we called it a night and went to bed.

Monday, March 29

 On Monday morning, I got up relatively early to pack my things. We had our last French breakfast together...our final baguette :( After we were all ready, we took the bus to Ashley's fac, as she had class at eleven. She showed me the correct bus to the train station (and how to order a ticket in French!) and we said goodbye to one another. Unfortunately, we will not get to see each other again until we are back at Agnes in the fall, so it was sad to say goodbye for awhile.


Ashley headed into class and I set off for a final walk around Besancon. I walked around for a bit and bought some postcards. Then I sat in the park for a bit and rested while I waited on the bus to come. I asked the driver for "un billet" and was on my way to the station. I arrived plenty early and grabbed a sandwich while I waited for my train to start boarding. It was a relatively uneventful train ride home. I enjoyed the French, Belgian and Dutch scenery and listened to my Ipod. I arrived back in Roosendaal, the first stop in the Netherlands from the Belgian border around 8pm, and my friend Daniel (Scotland) met me at the station to the ride the rest of the way to Tilburg with me. When we arrived back (around 9:30), we ran to Albert Heijn so I could get a few groceries for the next couple of days and went over to Bali's. She cooked us a nice dinner of chicken and rice. I was happy to be back with my Tilburg friends after a short break and thankful for a warm supper :D

All in all, France was fantastic! I was grateful to have Ashley with me who spoke the language, as it would have been super difficult for me to survive that long on my limited knowledge of French! It was fun to see Ashley again, and get to see and experience some of her study abroad experience. I enjoyed meeting all her friends and exploring Besancon. And Paris was fantastic! Truly magical :) I am looking forward to returning to France tomorrow, when I go with several friends to Marseilles in the south of France.