Dinan: Reflections of a Town I Called Home

           My host mother had to work on Monday so Blake and used the day to explore the town I lived in as an exchange student: Dinan. It was one of the only towns to not be destroyed in World War II and so the town has preserved lots of its 13^th century Breton character. Marie dropped us off by the office of tourism where free maps of the city were available. We took one but ended up not using it as I still knew my way around the little town. We went to the English garden, a small park on the edge of the rampart walls that overlooks the marina and a beautiful large bridge that spans across the Rance river. During my exchange, I spent a lot of time looking over the wall at the cars crossing the bridge and the boats pulling out of the harbor. The passing of time mindlessly watching cars go by was something I took for granted during my year abroad. This time, however, was different. With only a few precious hours to show my boyfriend everything I loved best about this quaint little French town, we had to keep moving despite wanting to linger a little longer.

Walking through the cobblestone streets brought back so many feelings about my year abroad. I laughed when we passed by an unnecessarily fancy chocolate shop that I would spend so much money on as a 16 year old. I smiled while standing on the rampart walls when a British sounding man there with his family started talking about his life in Dinan, I questioned if he too may have been a Rotary Youth Exchange student sometime in the past. I was sad knowing I wouldn’t be able to go inside the school I attended but most importantly, I was proud of myself for being daring enough to live abroad at such a young age.

 A year abroad is a huge challenge, both physically an emotionally, but it is full of so many wonderful opportunities. Sometimes while in an exchange the negatives can seem to override the positives. It can feel lonely when nobody around you speaks your language. I would get home from school exhausted just from trying to understand my classmates. I got sick almost every month; I had shingles at 16 years of age from the stress I was putting on myself. I sprained my ankle on the first day of orienteering in gym class and had to be carried to the bus by my classmates and gym teacher while having a total breakdown-one of my lowest days on exchange. However, I grew. I grew in my understanding of the language so quickly that I was understanding a lot of what was being said in a matter of 3 months. I learned how to deal with stress- I joined a tennis club and stopped putting so much pressure on myself in school and to, instead, focus just on learning French. I met the most amazing people and was privileged to see so many incredible places: Prague, Venice, Barcelona and Nuremburg to name a few. I became fluent and developed an entire life for myself in a foreign country. It may be simplistic thinking, but I believe that if everyone were to be required to do a year abroad wars would end and we could truly have world peace. From my time in Rotary, I met and became friends with people from all of the 6 populated continents. When I look at a world map, I think of the people I know in those countries and how they impacted my life. How could I support the bombing of a country when I picture friend’s faces whom I know live there? How could I support the generalization of an entire population of people as “bad” as is done in war time propaganda when I have personally met ones that are good?
           After reflecting and daydreaming about my time abroad while wandering around the town, it was time to head back home. Marie explained that she was setting up a dinner for me and my former host families for that evening. Marie mentioned that Mrs. Toublanc, my fourth host mother wasn’t answering her phone and that we should just stop by her place to see if she was there. When she answered the door, she looked at me with such shock and confusion that her jaw fell open. I busted into laughter and finally she managed to asked me what I was doing here, in France. She had no idea that I was even in the country as she doesn’t have Facebook and my Linked-In page still showed that I was working in the US! I invited her to the dinner and she said she would be there. Once we were home, Marie mentioned that my host father Mr. Berthoux wasn’t answering his phone either and would likely not be able to come on such short notice. When we got to the parking lot I hesitated, I wasn’t sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Now it was me whose jaw fell open, my host father looked so different from when I saw him last that I wasn’t sure it was really him until he began talking! The meal lasted 3 or 4 hours but I was so happy seeing and talking to everyone that it felt much shorter. At dinner, I was asked in French if I felt my year abroad was a year lost or a year gained and I confidently replied that it was a year gained. Not only did I gain a new language and culture but also lasting relationships with everyone at that table who chose to give up their evening to spend time with me, a former stranger.

View from English Garden 

Center of Dinan

View from Ramparts

Me in the center of Dinan

A windy day at Mont Saint-Michel

The following morning, Marina, my former host sister who is currently studying in another city about 2 hours away dropped by the house to surprise me! Alessandro, Marina, Blake and I decided to go for a ride around Dinan. We drove by the house we lived in, the school I attended and then we stopped to have a drink at Place Duclos, a café in the very center of Dinan. Being in Place Duclos brought back many memories of my exchange as it was a place I frequented often with friends. It was so great to catch up with my host brother and sister and all too soon it was time to go. Marina had to return to university and Blake and I had another adventure planned for the afternoon.

Out of all of the amazing things there is to do in this region of France, the number one thing I wanted Blake to see was Mont Saint-Michel. This island with a large abbey lies right on the border of Bretagne and Normandy and is located about 1 hour from Dinan. I told Amparo that I really wanted to take Blake there and she generously offered to take us. The island of Mont St. Michel is located just 600 meters from land and was accessible at low tide but became totally inaccessible at high tide before a land bridge was made for tourists. In some areas, quicksand also provided a natural defense for the island. Recently, improvements have been made to the area. A new, larger bridge has made the Mont accessible at all times, an information center has been built, and the parking lot has moved further away. Today, buses or a fairly long walk are required to get to Mont Saint-Michel. Before these updates, cars could drive all the way up to Mont Saint-Michel. However, this old system caused many headaches for tourists and workers as the rising tides forced drivers to move their cars before they filled with water! As the tide is no longer a concern, tourists like us could freely visit this UNESCO World Heritage site without worry. It took Amparo, Alessandro, Blake and I about 30 minutes to climb up the hill to the Abbey. We stopped at the top to eat our sandwiches and take in the views before taking a free tour of the Abbey. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t very nice and the winds were very strong; A typical occurrence for this region in France during the early months of the year. All in all, we spent about 3 hours at Mont Saint-Michel before driving home.

Back in Dinan, Amparo treated Blake, Alessandro and I to a galette and crepe dinner downtown. A galette is similar to a crepe but it has a more savory flavor and crunchy texture as it is made from buckwheat flour. Normally, galettes are considered more of a main course dish as they are filled with ingredients typically found in omelets: egg, ham, tomato or bacon. For dessert, Blake and I had banana/Nutella crepes, a favorite of ours. After dinner, Alessandro said his goodbyes as he had to return to Rennes for university. It was so nice spending the day with Alessandro. His bright and happy personality and his persistent adoration for his dog, Cannelle had me feeling like nothing had changed since my exchange in 2011-2012. 

Mont Saint-Michel

Place Duclos with my host brother and sister

Amparo's old home-the one I did my exchange in.

Alessandro, Amparo and Blake

Paris: City of lights and love

Early in the morning on Saturday, Blake and I left Landshut headed towards Paris. Our train would take us from Landshut to Munich then another train would take us from Munich to Mannheim and then finally we’d take our last train from Mannheim to Paris Est. We left at 6 am and we wouldn’t arrive in Paris until 1 pm. On the train, Blake and I caught up on some writing, reading and internet browsing. We also couldn’t help but talk and laugh about the couple in the seats in front of us who spent the entire 3 hours from Mannheim to Paris talking very loudly in English about dance. In Paris, Blake and I would be spending the whole day with our backpacks on so I knew we wouldn’t be able to go into any important buildings, especially with the recent terror attack at the Louvre. Instead, I had planned to bring Blake around to see the important sites in Paris. While on the train, I discovered that on the weekends a ticket called “Jeunes week-end” can be bought for the metro for young people under 26. It costs 4 euro and is an unlimited metro ride pass for 24 hours in zones 1-3. This is a really good deal considering one single ticket costs almost 2 euros. We visited the Notre Dame Cathedral and ate a “Croque madame” sandwich which is a cheese and ham sandwich topped with a sunny side up egg. Then we headed to the Louvre and walked all the way up to the famous Arch du Triomphe via the Place du Carrousel, past the Obelisk of Luxor and down the Champs Élysées. The Obelisk of Luxor has a very interesting history. The Obelisk of Luxor is situated in the Place of the Concorde which was the site of over 1300 beheadings during the revolution including the execution of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. The Obelisk replaces the guillotine that was here. However, the story is slightly varied depending on who you ask: An Egyptian or a Parisian.  Usually, the French version is simply that Egypt gave the obelisk to the French, however, what the French fail to remember, according to Egyptians, is that this obelisk was traded for a clock that is in the bell tower at the Citadel in Cairo… which never actually worked. It feels a little ironic that Europeans made a bad deal with an African country to obtain an obelisk like they haven’t already taken enough from Africa. Anyways, after walking all the way to the Arch du Triomphe, we went to the Eiffel tower and took some photos before heading towards the Montparnasse train station. At the train station, we found a little Bretagne styled diner where we had a galette and crepe before heading to the beautiful Bretagne. After another 2-hour train ride we had arrived in Rennes where Amparo and, to my surprise, my former host brother Alessandro picked us up. When I saw them I couldn't help myself from running toward them as it was so good to see them both again. As we drove towards Dinan, I was surprised at how I wasn't needing to translate French in my head to understand it despite not having spoken much French in 5 years.We drove another hour to Dinan and although Amparo had moved and a few small things had changed, I once again felt like I was back on my Rotary Youth Exchange. 

Notre Dame Cathedral

Statue of Charlamagne 

Le Louvre

Arch du Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

Regensburg

Friday we headed to Regensburg, the fourth largest city in Bavaria and a UNESCO world heritage site. The walk from the Regensburg train station to the downtown area takes about 15 minutes and you pass through the Schloss Emmeram Park. A short detour to the far side of the park brings you to the Schloss Thurn and Taxis. The palace has an interesting history beginning as a Benedictine monastery when it was built in 739 and later on converted into a grand palace for the Prices of Thurn and Taxis in 1812. Afterward, Blake and I cut up towards the St. Peter Cathedral, an iconic gothic style cathedral. Then we headed to what was supposed to be a beautiful stone bridge, however, it was under construction and covered up. Although we couldn’t see the bridge, we were able to get nice photos of the St. Peter’s Cathedral and the city from this angle. As Blake and I had a late night, we decided to get some Döner Kabob and then head back to Landshut. Once in Lanshut, we ate pizza and played the card game Wizard.