First Day Back in the Motherland

After what feels like an endless day, I can officially say we have made it to Straßburg!
This morning, while my fellow DGPS students boarded a plane from Charlotte, I boarded a Lufthansa Jumbo Jet in New York JFK. After a long flight, where I sat around watching movies in French (to practice my language skills for the next week,) we finally arrived! After waiting a few hours for the rest of the Charlotte to arrive in Frankfurt, everyone was united and ready to make the long trek from Frankfurt to Straßburg.
We were greeted by Christine, our tour leader, and a colorful German bus driver that had an English vocabulary consisting of "Hello" and "big." On the bus, we made our way to Straßburg, stopping only to take a 30 minute break for the bus driver.

I could tell that my experience was going to be slightly different than my classmates on this trip. Having lived in France as a gap year between High School and College, I have a decent background in the French language. Still, the nice part of traveling is that there are always surprises waiting for you. I found it odd while crossing into France because hardly a sign noted the change of countries. Understandably the European Union has changed relations between France and Germany, but I did not realize that they had become so meshed that the borders are not very well marked.

Our new home for the week was, of course, a fairy tale. The 18th century chateau with a Rapunzel-like turret, surrounded by a spacious green forested area was something out of a Disney Princess movie! After a nice afternoon of free time, we were able to explore the grounds before our walking tour of the park. We had a wonderful guide, who explained the mysterious of several contemporary art pieces in the garden. We also viewed a piece of the Maginot Line, and learned about it's history as a failure.

After an inside Powerpoint lesson on the Maginot Line, we broke off into dinner time. We received our first glass of champagne (well.. not really. Champagne is only allowed to be called Champagne if it comes from Champagne. Or else it's called Cremant) as a welcome to the mighty castle and to Europe. It was followed a delicious French meal at a local cafe.

All I can think about now is that I have not slept for the better part of 36 hours and I am dead tired!