Les Derniers Jours

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week is the last post you will hear from me (insert sad face). Time sure has flown by. I am sitting here trying to come up with words of what I have just experienced and I am in silence. I feel like I just got in Aix, yet I have stories and adventures of what feels like years upon years. The normality of being here in Aix and seeing the people and places on my daily routine seem impossible to change. This semester has by far been the best time of my life, and that is not an exaggeration. I would like to point out that I do not say that lightly. I have had the most amazing semester meeting people, traveling, and exploring.

As I am writing my final blog, as a literal and figurative last chapter to my adventures in France, I find it extremely difficult to leave this behind. The friends I have made who seem like family, as well as this apartment I have lived in which seems like home,  and the town which I know like the back of my hand; leaving, perhaps, is the hardest thing I have yet to face this semester. Of course, I miss my friends and family so much, but this place too, has a large pull on my heart.

This place was the by far my favorite place I have been to this semester. I have gone on and on in previous blogs on why I love Aix-en-Provence so much, but in case you may have forgot I thought I would sum it up once more. To me, Aix was the best possible city because it felt like home. To recap: I never took public transportation once in Aix because I could get around it; and for weekend travel, there were easy ways to get to and from the airport and train station. The city itself is beautiful, not in an over the top way, but in a way that is only possible to get to know after living there. The food, the people, the shops, all add on to this amazing appreciation for the town. The history, art, and simple beauty of this town is exquisite; and never overwhelming, but never boring. Of course, people make a place, and luckily I have met some of the most amazing ones in Aix.

However, despite the possible tears I had shed, have shed, or will shed this week, I am undoutably grateful and extremely optimistic, of not only the great memories I have made, but the people I have met, who have helped me have an amazing time, but who have also shaped me in years to come. I could go on about the wonderful friends I have met, but I do not have years to write about them, because that is how amazing they were. Being able to share a fraction of my time here with them has truly been an honor. It is crazy how just a couple of months ago, I feared starting anew and making new friends, and now saying goodbye is the worst. I have meet some of the kindest, genuine, smart, supportive, true people. So know this, it is true that the people you meet at study abroad will be some of the greatest friends of your life, and to my friends I have meet here, it has been my pleasure to make your acquaintance- Mes amis, c'était un plaisir de faire ta connaissance. I will miss all of you dearly as well as our home in Aix. Au revoir mes amis pas "goodbye."

These last pictures are ones from the beautiful, infamous, Aix! Au revoir!