Page 75 - The Gonzaga Record 1994
P. 75
start conversations myself definitely buildings are very distinctively French,
improved my French. being built of either pink stucco or red
The Caousou is involved in many brick and having wooden shutters. On my
exchange programmes, and during my other day off school, we went to
stay 1 met students from Clare, Galway Rocamadour, a beautiful village set on the
and Dublin, and also from Scotland, edge of a cliff in the Dordogne region, to
England, Australia and the USA. The day the north of Toulouse, which is a place of
was very long as we were in class from 8 pilgrimage.
am until 5 pm, and each class was an hour We spent the weekends in Fougax, a
long, but this was relieved by a long small village to the south, where my
lunch-break. exchange's family had a large house. The
I was lucky to stay with a very active beautiful sunny weather continued here,
family who found something to occupy and I spent my time cycling, walking, and
every moment. In the evenings I played playing soccer and boules. However, the
football and basketball with my exchange. highlight of my stay there was a walk and
On a day off school I visited the sights of climb 2,000 metres up into the snowfields
Toulouse, which included two cathedrals, of the neighbouring Pyrenees. Even better
the Mairie (City Hall), the shops and the than the climb and the view was the Pepsi
historic Pont Neuf, travelling by the city’s M ax-style descent at speed down the
new Metro, installed last year. Toulouse is steep slopes.
a sprawling city with a population of I was fascinated during my stay at how
about 750,000, and the city centre, which the French way of life was so different,
I explored with other foreign students yet similar to my own. As I expected, my
during the lengthy lunch-breaks, is exchange and peers loved anything to do
slightly smaller than Dublin’s. All the with America - however, French culture is
Commandants Duffy and Stafford with a wiser man
67
improved my French. being built of either pink stucco or red
The Caousou is involved in many brick and having wooden shutters. On my
exchange programmes, and during my other day off school, we went to
stay 1 met students from Clare, Galway Rocamadour, a beautiful village set on the
and Dublin, and also from Scotland, edge of a cliff in the Dordogne region, to
England, Australia and the USA. The day the north of Toulouse, which is a place of
was very long as we were in class from 8 pilgrimage.
am until 5 pm, and each class was an hour We spent the weekends in Fougax, a
long, but this was relieved by a long small village to the south, where my
lunch-break. exchange's family had a large house. The
I was lucky to stay with a very active beautiful sunny weather continued here,
family who found something to occupy and I spent my time cycling, walking, and
every moment. In the evenings I played playing soccer and boules. However, the
football and basketball with my exchange. highlight of my stay there was a walk and
On a day off school I visited the sights of climb 2,000 metres up into the snowfields
Toulouse, which included two cathedrals, of the neighbouring Pyrenees. Even better
the Mairie (City Hall), the shops and the than the climb and the view was the Pepsi
historic Pont Neuf, travelling by the city’s M ax-style descent at speed down the
new Metro, installed last year. Toulouse is steep slopes.
a sprawling city with a population of I was fascinated during my stay at how
about 750,000, and the city centre, which the French way of life was so different,
I explored with other foreign students yet similar to my own. As I expected, my
during the lengthy lunch-breaks, is exchange and peers loved anything to do
slightly smaller than Dublin’s. All the with America - however, French culture is
Commandants Duffy and Stafford with a wiser man
67
