Dear Host Family

Bonjour from my chambre de bonne dans le 6ème,

I wish I could live à Paris for another year. I have fallen in love with the food (and culture, but mainly food) of the most romantic city in the world. I cannot believe that our program ends in a week. Where did all the time go?

Time flies when you’re having fun. Paris was especially amazing because of the people. To start, our staff members are like fun camp counselors who relate to us completely. Aussi, my host family welcomed me in the minute I arrived and they allowed me to take part in French family life. I highly recommend applying to live in a homestay while studying abroad because I absorbed the most cultural knowledge by spending time eating and living with my host family.

My host family is comprised of: Nathalie (host mom), a classy French lady who takes care of everything, Christian (host dad) who’s laid back and teaches me French words all the time, their daughter Philippine, who’s around my age and is funny and easygoing and their dog Vegas, the “king of gobbles” who is always hungry. They also have a son I only saw once because he works in Barcelona.

I have dinner with my host family three times a week. I was so nervous for these dinners because I didn’t know the language well and I didn’t know much about the table etiquette here either. It was a relief to learn that we would eat around a coffee table while watching tv and making light conversation:nothing to worry about. Dinners avec my host family are super fun and très délicieux. Also, it was a comfort to have the tv on. We usually watched Le Petit Journal, the French version of The Daily Show, and we discussed current events. Once in awhile when the parents are away, Philippine would turn on a French reality tv show called Les Marseillais. The people on the show are so silly that they negate all of the sophistication I ever associated with the French. It’s not the best show to learn French from but c’est tellement drôle! (It’s very funny!)

Since our program is coming to a close and I will soon have to leave my lovely little room in Paris, I invited my host family out for dinner as a thank you for their incredible hospitality. My host mom recommended Chez Bebert, a Moroccan restaurant in Montparnasse. We took the bus together to the restaurant and had a really great meal together. Tangines are phenomenal. It was also the perfect time to get a photo of us all together.

Here is photo number two with Philippine blinking instead.

We talked while walking the whole way home after dinner. Paris is beautiful at night time and it was late so we were one of the few people still out. It was like a scene out of Midnight in Paris. This is one of my favorite memories of Paris because I am lucky enough to learn first-hand how similar a French family is to mine. My host family made Paris feel like home.

Merci beaucoup,

Gwen