Pau: An Immersion in Basque Country

My stay in Pau was nourishing and challenging. It is absolutely necessary to stay with a host family to truly experience the magic of Southwestern French cuisine, culture, and tradition. Each meal with my host Mom and her guests was a lesson in patience, process, and how to truly indulge the senses with each bite while participating in the communal process of making the food, setting the table, and sharing jokes and stories with friends old and new. The wide sidewalks of Pau lead to wandering, and the Boulevard Des Pyrenees is an unavoidable enchantment. I am sure that everyone who visits spends some time drinking in the view of sunset, sunrise, storm or sunny day all spread out in front of those majestic mysterious mountains that sometimes disappear in the fog.
Pau is not only extremely accessible by foot and bike, but there is a bus system that runs throughout the surrounding towns and can get you to and from school/the grocery store/the market/the pubs etc. The people of Pau vary from the very rich, to the groups that wander the streets with their dogs. I found both, and all those in between, to be welcoming and accommodating to students.
The program itself helped my French immensely and is not only a study of the language, but of the very spirit, soul, and practices of France.