Spring Break: Could This City Possibly Have Any More Cathedrals? Part II

I enjoyed Caen very much, but my experience would have been different had I stayed in a hostel instead of doing couch surfing. I believe that interacting with locals is the best thing you can do while traveling. You learn more about the town and the life of someone who is not from your country. In my case, I also learned that I was more capable of communicating in French than I had suspected--sort of.

I stayed with two girls my age in their apartment, which was conveniently located in the center of town. I fell in love with the apartment right away; it was artsy with a bohemian flare. There was always jazz music playing softly in the background. Only one of the girls was an art student, but it was obvious that both had a propensity for art and music. With me in the apartment, it made three. I fell asleep with the cheerful ditties of Django Reinhardt playing in my head.

My last evening in Caen, one of the girls took me to a party at her friend's apartment nearby. Although Lucille spoke very little English and I very little French--both of us understanding more of the foreign language than we could actually speak--we managed to communicate fairly well. I thank Spanish and the one semester of French I took sophomore year of college. The party turned out to be a bit of a concert. Lucille told me that her friend often had bands over to perform. What a lifestyle. For a few moments, I was envious. One of the bands was American. Hearing the American accent among all the French around me was odd; the only American accent I was accustomed to was my own voice inside my head. Nevertheless, despite my general dislike of the American accent, I welcomed it that night. I had been alone, computerless, and phoneless for the last few days. Hearing the familiar flat vowels brought me comfort. All in some grungy artist's flat in Caen.

I was sent off to Paris the next morning after a breakfast of fresh croissants and a chocolate beignet*. Rolling my suitcase down the street populated with people who had come out of Easter hibernation, I thought, I will miss this place.

*donut