Bonjour again! After being in France for around a month and in my classes for a couple of weeks, I have noticed some similarities and some differences between the United States and France. For some background, I am doing a program through CEA CAPA, and my partner school is for English speakers, so most of the classes will follow the American university format.

All my classes are structured similarly to the ones back home in Pittsburgh, with lectures and assignments, but the size is significantly smaller. Unlike the lectures in 2400 Sennott, my biggest class has 15 people, while most of my classes have 5. This has been the biggest struggle for me, especially since I am used to such large classes. I do enjoy this format, as it forces me to participate and allows me to understand the material much better than I typically would have in a larger setting. My classes meet only a few times a week, so I have plenty of time to explore Aix. My favorite place to do homework is outside at a local café. It is 60 degrees and sunny here every day, so it is a nice change from the Pittsburgh winters. I am in three literature classes, so I love ordering a café au lait and reading. Every building owned by the school was built on Roman ruins or during the Renaissance. The main hall used to be a church!

Another thing that is different from my classes at Pitt is the emphasis on traveling. Each class is required to travel at least once for their courses. In my European Literature in the City and Visual Arts, we are spending the semester focusing on Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, and Prague. After we finish each unit, we take a trip to that city so we can connect what we just learned with the actual city itself. For International Wine Business, we went out to a winery in Cassis to learn about marketing and to do a tasting. My favorite trip was to Avignon and Pont au Gard to learn more about the history of the Romans in France. Pont au Gard was my favorite because it was so relaxing after a long day walking around Avignon and Palais des Papes, and seeing the only remaining intact aqueduct from the Romans was an experience I will never forget. For my Cézanne and Van Gogh class, I get credit for visiting museums, so I took the opportunity to visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels. I enjoy going outside of the classroom to deepen my understanding and love for the topics. I’ve included a picture of Pont du Gard and Brussels. Merci et à très bientôt!