Christmas in the French countryside

In December 2019, I spent one week in Paris (during the nationwide transport strike) and one week in the quiet French countryside to celebrate and experience French holidays with my partner’s family. 

I spent about three years in France in total but this is the first time I was going to actually spend my free time there - not working nor studying. 

I was also able to squeeze in a two-day trip to Marseille (after having re-re-re-re-re...booked my train tickets - see strike), just before we left for his hometown.

I was also scheduled to visit one of my home cities in France: Rouen. I was eager to see old friends and revisit the city where I once lived. Unfortunately, my partner got terribly sick on the exact day I had to leave. I couldn’t leave him behind and have no one take care of him. We rarely spend time together and I wanted to be there for him during these rare moments. I decided to cancel my trip, to my utmost disappointment, obviously. Nevertheless, I did not regret staying to spend one more day with my partner, especially during such a tough time. 

This is France through my eyes, not as a student, not as a resident, not as a French instructor but as a tourist/traveler. This is a shortened rendition since my partner’s family requested to edit out their scenes from this public version.