Life as a Food Fiend and Lover of Italian Culture! Rome Days 4-6
What’s Rome best at? Well everything: architecture, art and sculptures, but most importantly…food! And as a food fiend, food blogger, food connoisseur, a person who really likes food, Rome is heaven! Our last 3 days of the trip were mainly dedicated to trying more of Rome’s food scene + exploring other sights too😉. Since we had no other preplanned activities for the rest of our trip, we went about just enjoying the city, here’s what we did:
Day 4: We visited the Spanish Steps and did some window shopping! The Spanish Steps are surprisingly more crowded than the Trevi Fountain in my opinion. There were spring flowers lining the steps which added the perfect color in photos! For lunch we tried the viral Italian sandwiches from All’Antico Vinaio. There was a long line, but it moved fast! I’m not even sure what the sandwich I ordered was called, I just asked for the most popular sandwich. But omg this was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my entire life. Italians are so lucky that this is their local sandwich shop. The quality of a single sandwich in Italy is unmatched!
In the evening we took a visit to Hotel Russie to live real bougie for the evening😎. We decided to live like real Romans and have an aperitivo tonight before our actual dinner, livin’ the extra life! I got a very luxurious coke and my mom got an apérol spritz to channel her inner Italian for the night! We sat at the outdoor patio; the temperature was perfect outside and the vibes were immpecable.
For dinner, which we started a 9:45pm (very late for us), we tried a classic Roman restaurant called Matricianella. I had a delicious meat sauce rigatoni that was so fresh and flavorful!
Day 5: We started off the day visiting to the Pantheon. I recommend seing the Pantheon because it’s free and not out of the way to see! There are Pantheon tours but I honestly think that the Pantheon is an explorable monument that you won’t need a tour guide for. For lunch we waited an hour for one of Rome’s best pizzas: Piccolo Buco! Since we tried al taglio styled pizza in the beginning of our trip, I wanted to try Neapolitan styled pizza to end the trip! A long line but definitely worth the wait and the margarita pizza is definitely a must!
We spent the evening in the Trastevere neighborhood, one of my favorites! I love the colorful walls and the small cobblestone streets! Osteria Der Belli Piras Valentino e C. is a fabulous seafood restaurant and was even my mom’s favorite meal of our whole Rome trip. We loved the mussels and sea bass!
Day 6: Our last full day in Rome:((( We spent the day exploring the neighborhood that we’d live in for the past week, Prati! Prati definitely has a more residential vibe without as many tourists if you’re looking for more local hangout spots. I also discovered a cute clothing brand called Subdued; I wish we had one in the US! The whole trip I’d been eying an Italian pastry called Maritozzo, and we searched all around Prati and finally find one, I’ll add a photo down below!
For our last dinner, we ate at an authentic Roman restaurant called Al Moro, my favorite dinner of our trip! While the restaurant is steps from the Trevi Fountain, it is NOT a tourist trap. Their food is authentically made by real Roman chefs. The retaurant is crowded but that’s because the food is so DELICIOUS! The burrata is absolutely divine and the tomatoes are next level. My favorite dish was the carbonara because it was specially mixed to perfection by our waiter. Also, the dinnerware was beautiful; I want their plates in my kitchen at home. The food, the ambience, the service (even with the patio full), everything was a real Italian dinner experience. My only thing was that it was very loud since the patio was on the street that leads to the Trevi Fountain. Outdoor seating was the only option since we did not have a reservation so if you prefer a more private setting I definitely advise you to call for a reservation in advance.
And that concludes my Roma Spring Break Trip!🇮🇹 Italy is one of my favorite destinations is the world because of their culture, friendliness, architecture, food, and weather. I will be back soon since I threw a coin in the Trevi! Grazie Rome!
Exploring Rome: Colosseum, Roman Forum, and more! Rome Day 3
On Rome Day 3, my mom and I took a guided group tour of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum! Out of all three sights I enjoyed the Roman Forum the most because it was fascinating to see (in real life) that buildings built thousands of years are ago are still intact and so well preserved! Palatine Hill is a portion of the Roman Forum, and has a great overhead view of all of Rome. Hot take, I was a little underwhelmed by the Colosseum…Maybe because I had visited Colosseum replicas in the South of France before, or because of the amount of people in the Colosseum itself, but I was not as impressed with the Colosseum as I was with the Forum. But the Colosseum is magnificent from the outside!
While we enjoyed seeing these ruins of ancient history, we were not the biggest fans of the group tour. We felt like the pace was too fast and we prefer enjoying sights on our own time. Also, at a super touristy attraction like the Colosseum, there are about twenty other group tours at the same time, so the experience did not feel personal in any way. The tour was also very exhausting with lots and lots of steps. Overall, even though we did not love our tour, I am content that we did it because we literally got to walk on history! Personally, I wish I had had more previous knowledge on Roman history, it would have made the experience even more memorable! I love Rome because the history is as valued as the present day.
For dinner we tried the viral pasta restaurant, Osteria da Fortunata! Tip if you don’t want to wait for hours: eat early! Since Roman always eat after 8pm, around 6 or 7pm there will be a short queue or you’ll be directly seated! I’d seen mixed reviews about this place with some people saying it’s too touristy and other people rating it as real quality pasta. I loved it and thought it was some of the best pasta from the trip! I tried their most popular dish, the Carbonara and I have only applause for it. My mom got the Fettucine with Vaccinara Tail Sauce which was also scrumptious. Pro foodie tip: mix the two, chef’s kiss!
Dessert has been an everyday thing in Rome, sometimes twice a day🤫, come on it’s Roma! We tried the panna cotta, actually my first ever panna cotta. I’m personally not a huge fan of the dessert, but my mom loved it so yes it’s worth it!
That was Rome Day 3: a day of exploring Rome’s history and Rome’s current food scene!
Gina the Fiat 500!🚘 Rome Day 2
On Day 2 of Rome, my mom and I took a city tour of Rome in a Fiat 500 named Gina! It was my favorite experience of the whole trip! Here’s how it went:
I booked this fiat tour through Airbnb experiences. I 100% recommend the fiat tour hosted by Gina La Rossa Fiat Tours, they are amazing with personalization throughout the tour. Our tour guide Giancarlo was the sweetest and showed us so many hidden gems of Rome and gave us great food recommendations also!
We started the tour at the Vatican, first learning about the building process and results the Romans achieved before any modern technology. Then we hopped in the car and started our driving tour! The fiat was ADORABLE. It was so tiny on the outside, but on the inside it felt spacious with plenty of room! First we drove up to experience the Vatican dome phenomenon. It’s the only dome in the world where when you drive closer to the dome, it appears smaller, and when you drive away from the dome, it appears larger. Roman architects were geniuses when they built these amazing structures, even if it was unintentional!
Next was our first surprise of the tour. We parked by a fountain and Giancarlo surprised us with a little bottle of Prosecco and glasses! I love the little special touches that are included in this tour, it makes your day feel individualized rather than a pre-set tour. Of course there were lots and lots of photos during this stop! Not just by us, but everyone and I mean EVERYONE wanted a photo in front of the Fiat.
We got back on the road and headed to lunch which was included with the tour. We had an incredible pizza flight from an authentic pizza al taglio shop called Pizzeria Elligio Fattori. This was seriously one of the BEST pizzas I’ve ever had in my life and the pizzas from here leave you bloat free!
After lunch we drove through the neighborhood of Trastevere. The roads were very narrow and not meant for cars but the perks of riding in a Fiat 500 are that you can get through anywhere 1. because of the car’s tiny size and 2. because everyone loves seing a tiny red Fiat in Rome! I felt like a celebrity when driving through Trastevere. I know that everyone was just taking photos of the car, but one day it will be me! We also drove past the Circus Maximus, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill.
My one request of the tour was to get some quality gelato, and we did just that! At the end of our tour we tried an authentic gelateria in Prati called Gelateria Dei Grachi, and it was one of my favorite gelatos from my whole trip! Highly recommend if you want to go beyond the touristy mountains of artificial gelatos in Rome.
The best four hours of my Rome trip go to Giancarlo and his Red Fiat 500! From the personalization, the tour guiding, sights, and kindness along the whole ride, this is the best Rome experience for first time Rome visitors and people who love to experience something unique compared to a normal walking tour of the main attractions.
Grazie Giancarlo and Gina! ❤️
France to Roma! Rome Day 1
For my second week of spring break, I travelled to Rome with my mom, it was an incredible week and I loved every minute in Italy!
Let’s start off with how I got to Rome. From Montpellier, France, I took the train to Marseille then flew from Marseille to Rome. When I entered the RyanAir gate, I was surprised to see my friend who was also on the same flight. It was such a great coincidence that we were on the same flight because we got to catch up after being on different school trips and we had the experience of flying together, especially on RyanAir. The RyanAir flight was better than expected and we landed safely! Once we arrived in Rome we went our own ways and I reunited with my mom in the airport. It was gratifying to see her again since I hadn’t seen her since Christmas.
We stayed at the Meridian Hotel in the Prati neighborhood. Random fact but I also stayed at the Meridian in NYC right before leaving for France! We had no scheduled plans for our first day in Rome, so we started our adventure with food of course! We had a late lunch at a local restaurant and tried our first (and definitely not last) pasta of the trip as well as some mozzarella. While it tasted pretty good in the moment, looking back on it that was nowhere near the best meal of our Italy trip. After our first meal we walked around the streets of Rome and visited out first monument, the Trevi Fountain! I’d seen a lot of videos and posts saying that the Trevi fountain was over-hyped and crowed, but I found the Trevi to be one of the most stunning fountains in the world, and it’s no more crowed than any other world-famous attraction in the world. It did not take long to make it to the front of the fountain and to make a wish! Legend says that if you face away from the fountain and toss a coin over your shoulder, then you’ve guaranteed your return visit to Rome; I’m ready to book my next flight back!
We walked through the shopping street, Via Condotti, and the nearby shopping streets as well. Of course we visited the Pantheon too, but just the outside for today. There are lots of street vendors selling toys, jewelry, clothing, portable chargers, you name it. One specific item I remember seing on EVERY street were these splat balls that make a screaming noise when you slap them on the ground, then slowly rise up.
For dinner we tried a restaurant called Cucina del Teatro. I got a clam pasta but it was a bit too salty. The best Italian food is yet to come, in my next few entries it will be there! Of course we had to experience our first gelato in Italy. Unfortunately with my first gelato, I dropped it on the ground:((. I’m more of a cup girl rather than a cone girl, but in the Rome, you just have to get a cone, for aesthetics, vibes, and tastes! My fantastic mom was so sweet and bought me a second gelato at another gelateria on our way back to the hotel, and I didn’t drop it this time😅. That was Day 1 in Roma!🇮🇹
Montpellier Trip!
My last school trip of the year was to Montpellier, France! I travelled to Montpellier with the same half of my grade I went to Marseille with. While the Marseille trip was jam packed with activities, Montpellier was a much more relaxing trip with less activities and lots of free time.
We took two day trips from Montpellier: one day in Narbonne and another day in Nimes. In Narbonne, we visited the salt flats of Gruissan and the Abbaye de Fontfroide. At the salt flats we got to scoop our own salt to take home and the Abbaye was beautiful. I also took an optional hike up the hill of the Abbaye which had spectacular views.
During our days in Montpellier, we visited lots of local museums such as the Fabre Museum and the Brut Art Museum. With the generous free time we were given, I had lots of time to explore the city and find its charms. My favorite activity was reading in the park on a sunny day. I found a fantastic bookstore with lots of English books, bought a book, and finished it the same day! The parks in Montpellier were calming and gorgeous. Having a day where the only important thought in my mind is the plot of my book is what makes me happiest.
My favorite sight from the trip was the Pond du Gard, an aqueduct in Nimes. It was my first time seing an aqueduct in real life and not just in a textbook. The sight was phenomenal and the weather was beautiful. Laying on the rocks and watching the kayakers pass by under the bridge was a peaceful reset. In Nimes we also visited the Roman museum since Nimes has Italian history.
The food scene in Montpellier was very diverse! From falafel to bao burgers, I left satisfied from all the fantastic restaurants I tried throughout the week. Montpellier has delicious brunch spots as well as food representation of all cultures. I loved my Mediterranean dinner and I had some of the best Japanese food that I’ve tried in France!
Weather played a wonderful role in this trip. While Rennes was cloudy and rainy, Montpellier was in the high sixties and lower seventies (Fahrenheit). I was able to wear shorts in April without my huge black puffer, a first since last September.
Overall, Montpellier was a wonderful trip. It was not my favorite school trip, but I had a pleasant time. That concludes all of our school trips of the year. I will miss these school trips so much, they were definitely my favorite part of my year abroad. Each trip was special in its own unique way, and I’ll hold onto the memories from each of these trips forever!
Capstone, Capstone, Capstone
The time has come, Capstone season! From February to April I focused on a capstone project for my experiential French class. The capstone project is one of the most highly anticipated projects of the year. As long as your topic gets approved, the project can be on any subject of your choosing, as long as it’s place based in Rennes. My topic was the local Rennes-based newspaper, Ouest-France. I chose Ouest-France because I’m interested in journalism and the process of newspaper printing, plus this widely known newspaper was developed right in my home of Rennes.
I revolved my project around two essential questions: How does Ouest-France prosper or resist despite the competition of other news sources? and How has Ouest-France changed with technology?
The purpose of the capstone is to go out and explore! We interviewed locals, visited locations specific to our topic, and documented our experience through a journal. While content of your research was important, the main objective was to create new experiences through discovering your topic and becoming an expert at it!
For my project, I interviewed a journalist, an economist, and I visited the Ouest-France newspaper factory. My favorite part of the project was the factory tour because it was my first time ever visiting a factory, and seeing the production of the daily papers was eye-opening to how many copies are printed and sold each day (over 600,000!). Not only did I have the opportunity to see how each newspaper is printed, but I visited the redaction office as well, something inspiring since journalism is a career I would love to pursue in the future! Watching journalists make edits to their articles in real time was fascinating. Also, one journalists was working on four screens at a time, oh the dream to not have to switch tabs😅.
With all of my research notes and interview notes I gathered from the two months of work, I prepared a 10 minute presentation. Since I could talk about this topic for hours with all the information I’ve learned, it was hard to minimize the experience into just 10 minutes. Wanting to speak longer than the presenting time is something I never envisioned for myself but look how far we've come! Did I also mention that this presentation is all in French, no speaker notes allowed. Along with my presentation I created a short video of a tour of the Ouest-France factory so that my classmates could visualize my explanations and see the inside of the factory!
Because this project is the most prominent project of the year, the teachers engraved the importance of this presentation leading up to Capstone day. This gave me some nerves in the first minute of my presentation, but by the middle I was speaking in French so fluently without any stutters, I surprised myself with what I was saying! This was one of those “yes I’m finally speaking French!” moments. Of course I’ve been speaking French all year, but there are always words I want to say but only know in English, incorrect verb tenses, or simple vocabulary. My capstone presentation was one of those moments when I felt confident in what I was saying as well as knowing others understood what I was saying as well!
Overall, I really enjoyed my capstone project since it was informative and a topic I personally enjoyed! There’s a large difference between a research project and an immersive project, and this was my first time experiencing an immersive project. This project has not only opened my eyes on the newspaper Ouest-France, but communication, production, and of course, more French!
Rennes Restaurant Recs!
I’ve been living in Rennes for over six months now, time flies like crazy! I’ve tried my fair share of restaurants, and I’m here today to tell you some of the best spots in my home of Rennes, France.
Les Sakura: Les Sakura is my favorite restaurant in Rennes and probably the restaurant I’ve eaten at the most since it’s very close to my school. Sakura sells authentic Japanese bentos at a very reasonable price point for their high quality and filling meals! Their Katsudon and Katsu Curry is some of the best I’ve ever had! The owners are super kind I’ve even worked with them in an instagram collaboration before. The restaurant is very tiny so if you decide to dine in get there early since there are only around 6 tables in the whole shop. To-go from Sakura is also just as tasty.
Yam Yam: When I miss Korean home food, I head straight to Yam Yam! Yam Yam has delicious and quick Korean food that is also authentic. The interior is clean and perfect for a quick lunch break meal. Casual but powerful is how I describe Yam Yam, and the quality is 100% there. I can’t wait to go back to try the rest of the menu, but I will always be satisfied by their Bibimbap.
Il Basilico: My favorite Italian food in Rennes is Il Basilico, close to the Musee des Beaux-Arts of Rennes. With a menu of all traditional Italian foods, I recommend their pasta the most. The Gorgonzola is phenomenal as well as the classic Carbonara. Don’t forget about dessert, try the Profiteroles! Il Basilico is the perfect restaurant for a night out with friends.
The General Tao/Colonel Jackson: If you’re a fan of fried chicken sandwiches, you need to try the ultimate fried chicken sandos from General Tao/Colonel Jackson. The spot is called General Tao bringing Asian fusion into chicken burgers, but there’s a secret menu restaurant called Colonel Jackson you can order from as well, look it up online😉. BTW General Tao is take out only, but there is a park next door if you want a place to eat at outside. I tried the Chickenpotle sandwich from the Colonel Jackson menu.
Monsieur Yak: Another great restaurant for a night out with friends and a little bit fancier is Monsieur Yak. Yummy Thai food with a chic two floor set up. They also have a great dinner formula with an entree+plat+dessert combo that’s a bang for your buck. A dish that captivated me was their black salmon bao burger with a side of sweet potato fries. It was a tasty plate and I highly recommend!
Mezzelicious: Ending off on a very high note is Mezzelicious, the best Lebanese food I’ve ever tried! Mezzelicious has the best hummus spreads and meat platters perfect for sharing, in fact their vision is that their plates are meant to be shared! Everything about Mezzelicious gets a high rating from me, the food is so fresh, flavorful, and distinguishable. Only good things about this place!
These are a few of my favorite restaurants in Rennes. Cafes will come next!
My First Archery Competition!
I competed in my first archery competition, in France! Here’s how it went:
Here’s a little back story of my archery journey. I started archery for the first time last September, in France, because I wanted to try an extracurricular activity where I could meet French people and try something new that isn’t as accessible to begin in the US. When I found out about the archery club in my small French town, I took the leap and tried my first class. Before starting archery I thought it was a very niche sport and always had a desire to try it one day, now was my chance! I quickly fell in love with the sport because of its individuality and concentration. When I’m at archery, I can focus in my own world and put all of my patience and focus into shooting my arrows. Archery has helped me calm down by easing my anxiety as well as lengthening my back and posture! I’ve also grown quite good at it if I do say so myself!
I decided to enroll in this competition on a whim for the experience, I’m only in France with the opportunity to compete in an archery tournament once! So I attended the archery competition, having no idea what was to come. The archery competition was in another local town’s gymnasium room. There were ten targets lined up and around 40 archers. Before the competition began there was an inspection of equipment where each archer went up and had their bow and arrows inspected. Then it was time to let the games begin!
Each target at 20 meters had four archers shooting: Archer A, B, C, and D. Archers A & B would begin and have two minutes to shoot three arrows, then it would be Archers C & D’s turn. After everyone was finished, we would go to the target altogether and chart our points. There were ten rounds like this. The first couple rounds I was nervous and felt like I had to shoot my three arrows as fast as possible. I later realized that I had time to relax which is what lead me to higher accuracy; I would wait until the archers around me were finished with their arrows then I would take my time to accurately aim and shoot! At the end of the ten rounds, let’s call it flight one, I scored 245/300 points, not bad for a first comp!
After flight one there was a twenty minute break where homemade cakes, crepes, and drinks were being sold. I ate a 50 cent Nutella crepe because once again, it’s all for the experience. Even if I experience another archery competition in my future will there be crepes? Probably not so that’s why I ate one! And I think it benefitted my accuracy in flight 2…Nutella crepes will give you power!
Flight two was the same format with ten shooting rounds of three arrows. I came into this competition only for the experience, whether I would score well or not at all. But now in the second flight I had a new goal, to win this thing😎. I I scored even better for flight two with a score of 263/300! My total score of the whole competition was 508/600😊. At the end of the competition was awards. I won first in my girls age category! It was an exciting moment for me, my first archery competition ever and I won first place! I even got a medal! My archery club also won first place between the other two clubs competing, it was a successful competition for all of us!
That was a recap of my first archery competition experience! I’m really glad I joined this unique sport this year and I would like to continue archery in the US. My friends called me Katniss after I told them about my competition😂. Katniss I’m coming for your title!
16 Hour Commute: Chamonix to Rennes
Here’s the story of my chaotic and crazy commute back to Rennes. Nuff said, let’s start at McDonalds:
While we were supposed to leave Chamonix in the morning, we cut the trip short to leave at midnight on our last full day. We did this because the scheduled transportation home was a bus, and three train connections. Getting to Chamonix already had problems with this bus, they overbooked it and refused to let us on when we arrived. As for the trains, we couldn’t risk having a delay from one then not making another. If that happened we would be stuck in Chamonix, or worse, a smaller ski town with even more limited transportation. So we cancelled our SNCF route and went for the next best option, a FilxBus at 12:30am from Chamonix.
For our last meal in the Alps we were planning to have raclette. But after a long day of losing a bag and having no money for a fancy meal, we had to resort to something a little less luxurious…the classic McDo. There are two reasons McDo was the perfect meal choice for tonight: 1. It’s cheap 2. It’s open until 11pm. Our new route home began at 12:30am and our hotel was too far away to go to and pick up our bags, so we had to bring them into town with us. Perfectly planning our schedule, we could stay at McDonalds until 11pm, then only have an hour and thirty minutes on the street! perfect!
So that’s what we did, a McDonalds 24 hour challenge (actually a 4 hour challenge but we’ll call it a 24 hour challenge for fun). We arrived at McDonalds around 8pm, bags and all, and took our lengthy time to check out the whole menu and order on the tablet screen. I tried a Croque Monsieur Happy Meal as my one course meal. The Croque Monsieur was as flat as a pancake…but I was grateful to have a meal to eat that night. To pass the time I did my Happy Meal puzzle not once, but twice. Around hour two my friend and I switched tables in the McDonalds to get a wide variety of the eating spaces in the restaurant; it was actually to just charge our phones. This is where we ate our dessert, we shared a biscoff McFlurry, and I also had the ice cream pop from my happy meal. Our new table was closer to the entrance. Sleep deprived, hallucinating, a bit delusional maybe, we sat and passed the time until McDonalds closed. Once it got closer to closing hour, every time a new group or person walked into the McDo, we would thank them from our seats, sparing us a little extra longer in the McDonalds. My friend even started to help the McDonalds staff out by picking up trash and cleaning the section we were sitting in. We managed to stay and extra 40 minutes in McDonalds after closing😱(thank you gritty boys🙏🏽).
At 11:40pm, we stepped out of the warm McDo and into the cold Chamonix air for the last time. Less than an hour to spare outside now! We pushed our large suitcases into the street and trekked a 10 minute walk to the FlixBus address. We arrived at the Flixbus stop thirty minutes early, but there was no one there for the FlixBus…Scared if the bus would ever arrive, we didn’t even want to know what the next step would be if the bus didn’t show up. Thankfully the bus came! We put our bags n and were about to hop on, when a lady says this bus is going to Milan. MILAN?! ITALY? NO. We verify with the bus driver who’s not French but Italian, who says this bus is going to Parigi, or Paris in Italian. Still uncertain we asked another person who then verified that it was the bus to Paris. Whew! That was a close one, I don’t even want to know what would happen to us if we ended up in Italy.
The FlixBus was not a terrible experience. It took us to our destination as promised. Was it a bit sketchy? yes. But we made it to Paris, or the outskirt of Paris. The most sketchy part of the FlixBus was arriving at the Paris stop, lots of stares were glanced in my friend and I’s direction. We had a 3 hour stopover in Paris until our bus to Rennes, so we lugged our bags to the nearest cafe we could find. We did another McDonalds challenge at this cafe, but this time we weren’t alone! Every customer in that cafe had the same idea as us to eat and wait for their next bus for hours. I didn’t have a Croque Monsieur this time but a Croque Madame (level up!). After the 3 hours passed we found our bus to Rennes and got on without looking back! Four hours later, WE MADE IT BACK TO RENNES😁. The moment I’d been waiting for for 16 hours + more! What a travel day, a trip, a journey, and expedition, all of it. I’m happy to be home!
Stolen Bag in Chamonix
This is the horror story of how I got my bag stolen in Chamonix, France. Well it’s not a horror story, I didn’t die and I still have my passport…It was very devastating though. Here’s what happened.
Our last full day in Chamonix was supposed to be our spa day, the reason I wanted to visit Chamonix in the first place. We stopped at a cafe for breakfast before our spa reservation, grabbing a quick bite to eat. I got a smoothie and my friend got some oats. We sat down at the nearest table close to the register. This whole narrative is still a bit unfathomable when recounting and writing out because it all happened in a span of less than 10 minutes. So we sat down at this table and waited for our food. The only time I got up from the table was for ten seconds to walk five feet to ask the barista to make our order for “to-go” instead of “for here”. Those ten seconds might have been the ten seconds that could have changed everything. We receive our food and are all ready to head to the spa. I’m reaching to grab my bag when all of a sudden there’s no bag…Where’s my bag? This is when I register that the bag is gone. Wait a minute, what? The bag was gone. Was my bag stolen, accidentally mistaken by someone? Where is this bag?
So this is when I start freaking out and panicking. The bag is actually lost and nowhere to be seen, it was definitely taken. I never left the cafe and was only here for ten minutes but it’s gone. I think I remember having the bag touching my feet, but the certainty fades. Whether I had it on me or not, whether I lost it from those ten seconds I got up, it’s now gone. My mind is now in a state of alarm and panic; I had everything in that bag. My wallet, cash, two credit cards, camera, tripod, journal, metro card, house key, and hotel key are all gone. It’s only 10am in France, 1am in California, I can’t reach my Mom in this state of crisis. So I leave the cafe and start frantically walking around Chamonix, hoping to find someone holding my bag. After that doesn’t work I go to the police station to file a stolen bag report. I’m still lost and alarmed on what to do next, while also feeling really guilty since if only l was responsible for my bag.
I had all of my valuable possessions in that bag because I trusted myself so much when it came to responsibility. I always knew that there are pickpockets and thieves out there, and I’m always aware of my belongings. But in this one moment where I felt comfortable and let that slip, everything is gone. And now I have to pay the price, having no money and the valuables that meant the most to me.
While it’s true that everything’s replaceable, and everything I lost was a material object that I can get back, what aches the most is losing my journal. Keeping a journal (especially in France) is very important to me so that I can remember the moments and memories from my year abroad forever. While I can rewrite the pages I lost, they will never be recounted as well as when I wrote the moments. Fortunately, this journal is a new journal I recently started in December, but there were very sentimental entries lost such as when my Mom met my host family, my first trip to Paris, and meeting some of my new best friends from semester 2. Losing my camera was also a hard thing to get over because my Sony ZV-1 camera was my prized possession. I would take that camera everywhere to vlog my life in France. I also lost all of my footage from the school Paris trip and my Chamonix trip. Cameras are expensive so it may take me some time to purchase a new one, but I will not give up on my passion just because my camera is now gone.
I communicated with my Mom about the news once she woke up, it was already late afternoon for me in France. She was very comforting about the situation which made me feel loved. One of the biggest challenges with studying abroad is learning to become independent in situations which you don’t know how to handle yourself. In times like this, all I wanted was to just be home in California with my Mom, without the stress of what to do now that my possessions have been stripped away from me.
After blocking and tracking the credit cards, we found that one was used in another ski town called Courcheval, a couple hours from Chamonix, so yes the bag was stolen and not just taken by mistake. I have the police officers in Chamonix and Courcheval still working on the case, and now I just hope that I can maybe find the journal or my camera one day.
While this experience was not something I wished to endure, I have learned a lot from the incident. I’ve now faced the results of my lack of responsibility and awareness for my belongings, and now I have to pay the price for it. Even when I expected myself to never lose track of my belongings, the universe said otherwise. I also believe that mindset and attitude is everything. I am a very lucky person who has had many fortunate experiences. But on this trip there were moments where my mind was filled with nothing but negativity, and whatever your mind thinks is what is brought out to you.
So now I am stripped of all of my important belongings, but I am grateful that I am safe, not hurt, and I still have my passport. Did my biggest fear come true? yes. But am I alive and am I going to thrive off of this situation? absolutely yes. Nothing will stop me, even my lost Longchamp bag.
Chamonix Trip!
After the Paris trip with my school, I took an independent travel trip to Chamonix with two of my friends. While this trip was a bit of an ordeal, it had its fun moments! In this post I’m going to focus of the positive aspects of Chamonix. I’ll get into the chaos of a time in a separate post😉.
My first time skiing was when I was in 5th grade, I’m now in 11th grade…a second ski trip was definitely needed in the books! Chamonix is a little ski town in the French Alps, everything you think of when you think of ski trip: mountains, ski shops, lodges, and everything in between.
On our first day in Chamonix, we took the mer de glace train ride, a train that takes you up through the mountains, then to a glacier! This is was spectacular because where else will I find the opportunity to see a real glacier in my own eyes? The train was a little red train like a Christmas movie. What we didn’t know beforehand is that the glacier isn’t just right off the exit of the train, you have to take about 20 flights of stairs down until you get to the glacier😅. But it is worth it to walk through the all-ice cave! The reason why it’s much lower than you would expect is because it’s been melting:( so visit a glacier while you still can because they are magnificent!
Fondue night was a mandatory activity since we’re in the French Alps! It was my first time having cheese fondue! A big pot of melted cheese, cold cut meats, potatoes, bread, and salad appeared in front of my two friends and I. What looked small made us so stuffed to the point where we could barely walk afterward😵💫. Basically on this whole trip I only consumed cheese and bread😛. That’s Chamonix for ya!
You can’t take a ski trip without actually going skiing right?! I spent one day skiing in Chamonix and it was truly incredible. As a beginner skier what I loved about Chamonix was that there were beginner runs up in the mountains with incredible views. I wasn’t stuck at the bunny slopes which are close to the ground, but I was able to take the gondola up to amazing sights while not scaring myself on a black run😎. My friend taught me everything, and I was pretty confident in my skiing by the end of the day. There hasn’t been much snow in Chamonix all season, but the weather was nice and sunny. I expected it to be freezing but ended up overheating during the whole day😜. A ski day definitely completed this trip for me, skiing in the Alps in truly incredible for an experience skier or a first-timer (well second-timer like me😉).
These were my Chamonix highlights! It was extraordinary to have the access and opportunity to take a ski trip to the Alps. From being in Paris one day to skiing in the mountains another, France has given me so many endless memories I will remember for the rest of my life!
School Paris Trip!
My whole class and I went to Paris for 3 days! It was a spectacular trip filled with memories, learning, and all around excitement. I will do a detailed itinerary of the trip, but here are a few of my favorites from Paris!
My favorite aspect of this trip, which was different from our trip to the South of France, was that we had the freedom to choose our activities beforehand. A week before the trip, we were given a sheet to choose our top two activities out of three in each activity period. Many of the sights were repeats so if you didn't get the choice you wanted one day, there was a large chance that you could visit the sight another day. Gratefully, I received all of the activities I requested! There was also lots of free time between and after each activity period to independently explore Paris without the school. Every morning we received metro cards which encouraged us to explore the different quartiers of Paris freely!
My favorite sight from the Paris Trip: Shakespeare & Co. - Our visit to Shakespeare & Co. was extra memorable for me because we studied the Lost Generation, Ernest Hemingway, and Sylvia Beach in English class before our trip. Since I love to read, this iconic bookstore from the 1920s definitely wowed me and had me geeking out after all that we’d learned about it in class. Learning about something interesting then seeing it in your own eyes always makes me fascinated by the topic or place even more! I didn’t buy any books because I had no room in my suitcase, but I did buy a tote bag. The hidden gem of Shakespeare & Co. is the upstairs, Sylvia Beach’s apartment and reading layer. Everything upstairs is still intact like it’s the roaring twenties. The bookstore wants to preserve Sylvia’s legacy as much as possible so no photographs are allowed. A core memory, which I have no photo or videoproof of but is still a super special moment to me, was playing the piano in Sylvia Beach’s room, with the music of the bookshop. The moment was incredible because the only thing in the room was me, the piano, and books, nothing in between (expect the people watching me😉). I was transfigured into an artist of the Lost Generation, playing the piano freely with nothing to lose. That was also the first time I’d played the keys since last year, but wow it felt so good to play. Usually I am very shy when it comes to playing the piano in front of others, and I only play when I’m alone. But there was something so liberating about playing the piano in Shakespeare & Co. for the world to hear, I loved every minute of the three songs I played. If you love reading, literature, playing the piano, or just France, visit Shakespeare & Co. and you’'ll find yourself lost in a different generation of time.
My favorite restaurant from the Paris trip: Chez Janou - As a foodie, I researched lots of restaurants before the trip, mostly restaurants close to our hotel by the Bastille. Chez Janou is a famous French spot that I’d wanted to try on my Paris trip with my mom, but it was very far from reach on our trip. When noticing that Chez Janou was a five minute walk from our school trip hotel, I leaped at the opportunity to try this classic bistro. On our first night in Paris, my friends and I ate at this delicious restaurant and I was not disappointed one bit! I devoured the magret de canard au romarin, or the duck breast with rosemary. It was hearty and delicious. But the main attraction Chez Janou is known for is the chocolate mousse that is scooped out of a humungous pot! The fluffy whipped mousse exceeded my expectations and was a large enough portion to share between 4 people, definitely recommend if you have a sweet tooth in Paris!
My favorite memory from the Paris trip: singing along the Seine - So the last night of the Paris trip on our way back to the hotel, my friends and I walked along the Seine, blasting Taylor Swift songs and Counting Stars by OneRepublic; what a night! While cool excursions, fancy sights, and fantastics views are awesome, so are simple moments of pure joy. Walking along the Seine and singing at the top of our lungs was something so simple but so memorable to me. These are the moments I will remember about my year abroad in France: being 17 years old, dancing and singing in the streets of Paris, without a care in the world, just pure happiness. Sometimes the best moments in life are the unexpected, and the ones that don’t cost a single penny!
The Paris Trip is another highlight of my time in France, I always love the amazingly planned school trips! I’m grateful to be a part of a program that takes so much attention to detail in planning incredible trips and activities for their students.
Baguette me not: Energy costs endanger beloved boulangeries
The Ukraine war has caused energy prices to skyrocket across Europe. In France, if costs don’t decrease soon, some bakers might have to say adieu!
When a war breaks out, it’s not just one person who pays the price. A bulk of Europe is on ‘power-saving mode’ through reducing all forms of energy in homes and establishments around the continent.
Heat, hot water, and stovetops are not the only necessities that have shut down in France as a ramification of the Ukraine war. Two day-to-day, essential pieces of French culture have also been altered due to the economizing energy reduction.
These cultural staples in every French household are the boulangeries, the bakeries that prepare and sell classic and customary French breads, along with the baguette, the national bread of France.
Thousands of local boulangeries are closing their doors due to the energy crisis.
According to Franceinfo, 80% of boulangeries in France reported that they were at risk of bankruptcy due to dramatic increases in energy costs. Through increased energy costs and the rise of baking ingredient costs due to inflation, bakers have tried multiple tactics to overcome these unimagined challenges such as working at night to reduce electricity bills and increasing bread prices.
One boulangerie hit by ballooning energy costs
Thierry Bouvier is an experienced baker and the owner of Bouvier Thierry in the heart of Rennes, France. He has been running his primary boulangerie for 35 years along with a concept cafe in Rennes called MY by Thierry Bouvier for eight years.
Bouvier experienced unforeseen challenges running his successful business after the energy crisis hit. The costs of electricity shot up for Bouvier’s bakery, with the price per kilowatt of energy increasing by 5%. Before his recent contract change in January 2023, Bouvier’s monthly energy bill of €1,800-2,000 Euros was multiplied by 4 due to the rise in energy costs.
Since Bouvier uses a wood oven for baking his breads, the oven graciously helps their energy conservation. But even with the helping hand of having a wood powered oven, surcharges are still prominent through everything else electric, from mixers and electric machines to lighting.
To overcome these energy struggles, Bouvier’s team optimizes their energy usage by working at night. Bouvier says, “The energy is less expensive during the night. We use this to our advantage by utilizing our two electric pastry ovens to make a maximum of pastry products for the day from 3am to 7am.”
Energy was the most impacted factor for Bouvier’s enterprise because his team needs energy electricity for not only their boulangerie, but their connected patisserie, pastry shop, as well. Bouvier Thierry uses energy from electricity and gas for all factors of the baking process such as heating, chilling, and freezing his goods.
The cost of flour rises in the heat of war.
If it’s not the energy that wipes away local boulangeries, the rise in ingredient prices brings a heap of new struggle. Aude Suhard is the owner of L’Atelier du Pain in the small commune of Thorigné-Fouillard in Rennes, France. The baker and business owner has been running her business for 14 years.
Her enterprise is not affected by the European Energy Crisis because she bakes with a fuel oven rather than an electric oven, leaving no substantial increase in energy bills. As a result of inflation from the Russia-Ukraine War, the rise in baking ingredients leads Suhard’s boulangerie to increase the price of its baguette.
“We raised the baguette price to €1.15 last September, and will need to raise it again to €1.20 this February.” Suhard said. Egg costs have multiplied by three due to the bird flu in Europe, and the cost of flour has risen by 20% due to inflation, she said.
Even with the escalation in bread pricing, a local consumer of L’Atelier du Pain continues to buy from her local boulangerie every day rather than the supermarket. “I buy from the boulangerie because the bread is good, the flour is French, I know the origin of the wheat, and I’m guaranteed that everything is fresh," she said.
There is a personal reason as well. “I have a connection with my local bakery and the bakers," she said. "The people who work in local boulangeries usually live in the same neighborhood or city as you. There is a link to the community.”
The double whammy of Covid and Ukraine conflict
Europe began to see a lack of energy supply in 2021 from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Europe presumed this inconvenience would soon bounce back to its previous state, but the lack of energy quickly magnified in 2022 from effects of the Russia-Ukraine War as Russia is a leading producer and exporter of oil and gas to many European countries. According to Bloomberg Economics, rising energy bills cost Europe as much as $1 trillion.
Bakers around the country have begun protesting over the surging power prices. On January 23, bakers from all departments of France met at Place de la Nation in Paris to demonstrate against the rise in energy prices.
The French government responded to the action by structuring target measures to support the boulangeries. Financial assistance will be given to those who struggled during the months of November and December of 2022. In addition, the Prime Minister announced the possibility of postponing the payment of certain social and tax charges for all bakers who had cash flow difficulties.
The baguette isn't the only victim of high energy costs.
I've been studying abroad in France this year, and I have seen minimally-heated restaurants provide blankets to customers, and public pools lower their pool temperatures, with some permanently closing. Many schools have considered online education again due to power cuts.
In my own home, my host family and I limit our energy consumption by controlling our electric stove and oven usage, turning the lights off in any room that’s not occupied, and utilizing public transportation whenever possible. Conserving energy in France opened my eyes to the privilege of never having to think twice about my energy consumption back home.
Purchasing bread from your local boulangerie is a quotidian activity in France’s culture. Not only are the breads delicious, but these businesses, which are unassociated from corporate companies, create relationships with the customers in their local communes.
The baguette is a staple in every French meal at any time of day. This delicacy is so prominent in France’s food culture that on November 30, 2022, the national bread UNESCO inscribed it on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
So bon appétit! And turn off those lights.
Baker Aude Suhard of L’Atelier du Pain in Thorigné-Fouillard, France
The First 6 Weeks of Semester 2
It’s already February 2023, which means semester 2! As fast as lightning, we just wrapped up our six week school period and are already on vacation! Here’s a reflection on the past six weeks of my semester semester in France:
The biggest change about semester 2 is that we had new students arrive! Ten semester students arrived and have joined our SYA community. They are all really awesome and are a great addition to our school. Some of my new best friends are even semester 2 students!
In terms of coursework, the only difficult transition was getting back into the swing of things from my trip to Paris and London. All of my courses are the same as last semester, but since we had new students join each class, we started on brand new topics in each course.
This semester I branched out to new people and met new friends, while still keeping ties with my yearlong friends. I’ve gone to a few new restaurants in these past few weeks and have explored more sights of Rennes I’d wanted to see in semester 1. Two notable restaurants were Monsieur Yak and Mezzelicious, and I finally visited the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Alma Mall! Most importantly, I achieved a goal of mine for the new year: learning to let loose through spending more time enjoying the moment, rather than always being a workaholic. Surprisingly, little moments of fun such as enjoying a drink at a cafe and cooking class have helped me receive higher grades, serotonin through making happy memories helps the soul!
Some notable fieldworks we’ve had this semester were a trip to Château de Fougères and Château Des Pères, an interview workshop with a journalist, and watching a documentary apart of the film festival, Travelling. We’ve also begun Capstone work! Our grand oral presentation of semester 2 is a capstone project on the topic of our choosing. I’ve chosen to research the Rennais newspaper, Ouest-France! It’s just the beginning of Capstone so I haven’t started much yet, but I’m excited to explore the newspaper more into detail in these upcoming months.
Over the past six weeks I wrote my first article for NewsDecoder, a global educational news service for students around the globe who have a passion for journalism. My topic was the European Energy Crisis, with a deeper dive into the humungous subjet through a smaller perspective of French boulangeries and baguette prices. I am really proud of this article because it is my first published piece of work on a real news source! The process of interviews, editing, and writing taught me so much since these are my first steps into journalism.
All of my host siblings have birthdays in February, and we’ve gotten through two of four special days! Birthdays are a fun time in my house so it’s always exciting to celebrate. In the month of January we ate lots of Galette de Rois, a traditional king’s cake with a fève inside. Whoever gets the fève, or little figurine, inside their cake piece is the king or queen for the day. Since Galette de Rois is seasonal, our family took advantage of the specialty and ate them almost every night of January. Another sweet treat day of France we celebrated was Chandeleur, where my family and I made waffles and crepes for dessert!
As we head into our second winter break, my whole class and I are heading to Paris! I’m looking forward to the Paris trip because we have lots of freedom to explore the city and many of our activities are sights I wanted to see on my last trip but didn’t have time.
Life in France is moving by too fast, I want it to slow down so I can stay longer! But I’m cherishing every minute, every new experience, every challenge, and every achievement.
