"Madames et Monsieurs, bienvenue a Paris Charles-de-Gaulle" woke me from my drowsy air-nap and encouraged me to rub my sleepy eyes and look out the window. As I lifted the shade of the small portal next to me, an entire new world awoke with me. It was Paris, the renowned city of light with a history that rivals the age of Rome and Greece. And I was finally there.

I had been preparing for that moment for the past 3 years, laboriously studying French at my high school, St. Mary's Academy in Englewood, under the direction of Madame Mary-Jeanne DeMarie. For the past semester, I had enjoyed a French Culture and Conversation class with the ever-eager and totally enthusiastic "Madame," as I call her. French is something that I just "took to," so the prospect of spending the better part of a month in France with a homestay family was immediately appealing when Madame proposed the trip last fall. It was expensive; I had to get a job at the local mall in order to raise half of the money to go, but in retrospect, it was totally worth it.

So, jet-lagged but totally excited, seven other SMA girls and myself, along with Madame DeMarie and our co-leader, Mademoiselle Molly, navigated the terminals of Charles de Gaulle and found our way into Paris. We checked in at our hotel, the "Paris France Hotel" near the Place de la Republique in Paris, and headed out to explore the Latin Quarter and Notre Dame de Paris. After finishing up at Notre Dame (which is amazing, as you might expect), we split into pairs and were responsible for finding our way to the Pont Neuve Bridge, and later enjoyed a night cruise on the Seine River. It was just amazing to be there, that first day felt like a strange dream. The reality that we were in Paris didn't sink in until the next day when we visited the Louvre art museum (I viewed the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and other famous works of art up-close), the Eiffel Tower, and the famous Avenue des Champs-Elysees (which is the equivalent to NYC's 5th Avenue).

It was a whirlwind of excitement and disbelief, but I didn't feel like I was using a whole lot of French -- save for " Pardon" ("excuse me") in the Metro. The fact is that Paris has definitely been subject to globalization, and Anglophones are a dime a dozen, so while it is easier for Americans and other English-speakers to get around there, some of the innate French charm has gone missing. Our final day in Paris was spent visiting the Musee d'Orsay (the Mecca of impressionist painting) and the neighborhood of Montmartre (home to the Moulin Rouge and the Bohemian revolution of the 19th century).

After spending our first three days in Paris, we traveled by TGV high-speed train to the costal city of Saint-Malo in Brittany. There we stayed with a homestay family for two whole weeks. I stayed with the Noel Family, who lived in the Intra-Muros (walled city) built several centuries ago. My family consisted of Monsieur Pascal Noel and Madame Laurie Noel, as well as their children Betty, 15, and Malou, 11. The Noels turned out to be unlike any family I've ever met before. Pascal, my host-father, is a local rocker and (in his spare time) works at a local museum, while Laurie owns her own art business. My sisters Betty and Malou are both in the midst of the complicated French education system and would like to someday be a teacher and a journalist, respectively. They helped me out a lot with the language, giving me random vocab and grammar quizzes, and delighting in my faulty pronunciation of "yoghourt" (yogurt). Malou even dubbed herself my new French teacher, finishing my sentences as I should finish them, not as she knew I would.

As the days flew, by I began to explore the city myself, and got well acquainted with the best cafés, shops, and sights to see. I even figured out the complex (and rather unreliable) French bus system, and used it to explore the charming suburbs in the area. I had additionally braved the fierce, rainy weather of the English Channel AND learned how to hang my laundry out on the line. I tasted different French wines, ate local seafood, and even grew to love the French petit dejeuner (breakfast consisting merely of a cup of hot chocolate and a croissant). My world grew bigger during those two weeks, my appreciation for a culture so drastically different from my own taught me so much, and made me thankful for the opportunity to experience la vie française. Eventually, our two weeks had flown by and after visiting numerous castles, churches, and oyster farms, it was time to leave. The girls from SMA threw an evening soirée for all of the host families and said goodbye. It was amazing how much my French had improved, and how difficult it was to leave my wacky French family behind.

The remaining four days of the trip were spent in Angers, France, in the Loire Valley (sometimes referred to as "Valley of the Kings," as most of the kings of France built castles off of the picturesque river) where we visited a 12th-century Abbey, a local Mushroom museum, an ancient castle with a football-field-long tapestry depicting the apocalypse, and a local game of " boule-fort," (traditional French bowling). We were exhausted by the time we got back to Paris, but still amazed by all the sights we saw and the experiences we encountered.

Many of my friends and family members have remarked that this trip was "the experience of a lifetime," and they're right. I grew so much as an individual, and learned so much about myself as a person. I learned that I can be responsible for myself and look out for my own well-being. Not many 17-year-old high school girls find themselves thousands of miles away from home with nothing remotely familiar, and when it happened to me it was scary, really scary. It's these experiences that make you grow up, these tough situations which truly make you "experienced" and add to your maturity and value as a member of society. If I can go to a far-away country, speak a totally different language, and deal with a whole new culture by myself, then there isn't a whole lot I CAN'T do.

I've learned that your biggest obstacle is yourself. It didn't matter if I absolutely knew that "I would like a ham sandwich" was " je voudrais un sandwich jambon," if I let any doubt into my mind, my confidence would drain and I'd just be left standing there empty, having to mime my request. Never let the fear of failing terribly deter you from giving it a try. If you have any doubts about your abilities, remember that (in the case of the French, anyway), a big smile and a little enthusiasm go a long way ... or when in doubt, just ask Malou.