The Last Week in France Part II

The time during my last week was running much too fast - I was not sure if I was already willing to say goodbye to my French life, but I had no choice. I had already filled in the form to leave the apartment in my residency and told everyone in Germany that I would arrive the 3rd of June. Sometimes it was a disadvantage that I had to plan everything in advance. If I would have could, maybe I would have stayed one or two weeks more - I didn't know when or if I would see my boyfriend again and that made it even more difficult. But because of that I tried to enjoy those last days even more and to see him as many times as possible. But as he had to work during the day I had to find other things to do, and as the weather was good I decided to visit the Zoo of Amiens.

Visiting the Zoo of Amiens

During my time in the French city I had always wanted to go there, but until March it was closed, and zoos are better when it's warm and you can stay outside a bit longer without freezing immediately. The zoo was situated in the Parc de la Hotoie, the place where me and my boyfriend went running from time to time. I took a shower, got ready and had a small breakfast (my boyfriend had taken the bus to the city centre this morning so I didn't have to bring him to his place) before I left the house and went to the Parc by car. Fortunately there was a large parking one minute away from the zoo and I didn't have to go by bus. I parked my car and went to the entrance to buy my ticket. Of course, I would have preferred to go together with somebody else, but most of the others still had courses at university or had to work, so I had to go by myself. But that wasn't a big issue because from time to time I enjoyed doing things alone, as for example my city trips to Brussels or London - the only person I could take with me all the time was my boyfriend. Spending time with him was so uncomplicated and I always enjoyed it a lot. I could not imagine one single thing I would not like to do with him! And that's something I had never felt for any of my former boyfriends, so that relationship was something special, not only because of the language and culture differences.

But he had to work, so I entered the zoo and started my way around the animals. It wasn't a really large zoo, as the ones in Nurnberg or Hamburg I knew, but it was quite nice from the beginning on. It started with monkeys that weren't in a cage, they could have left their area, but out of an unknown reason they didn't. I was fascinated by that - in the other zoos I knew they were always in large cages with grids and everything. I continued my way through the park, saw all kinds of animals that one usually can find in zoos: turtles, birds, elephants, giraffes, meerkats, capybaras and many other species. As it was a normal day in the week, there was almost nobody in the zoo, but I felt a bit lonely when I saw couples walking around holding hands and kissing each other. But I knew that I would meet my boyfriend in the evening, so it was not that bad. I made small breaks, sat down at a bench and watched the small river that circulated through the zoo. I really enjoyed the sunshine in my face and the nice atmosphere, and so I spent a lot of time in the zoo. But after a while I had seen everything and it was time to go. I resisted the wish to buy something in the boutique of the zoo which was the exit at the same time, and was in the parc de la hotoie again.

The best park ever

As I didn't know if I would come there again before the day I left, I took a walk next to the lake and the beautiful alley. I would really miss that place - it was completely at grade and therefore, it was perfect for running! I had never run more than 25 minutes in Germany because the park next to my house is full of small hills and that was quite exhausting if you are not a trained jogger. But in that park in Amiens I could run up to 45 minutes, something that made me really proud - even if my boyfriend was still laughing about me, but I knew that it was something quite good for my body and also for my mind. He had shown me that I can do more than I thought, because before France I would have never thought that I can run longer than 30 minutes. Together with him I ran 40-50 minutes!

Nothing to do - the last days with my boyfriend

After my short walk in La Hotoie I went back to my car and returned to the residency in order to prepare something to eat. The rest of the day I spent in my bed, watching series, chatting and talking to my Dad and his girlfriend via Skype. I knew that I would surely miss that stressless time one day, but for the moment it was just boring and I wanted to start new adventures, even if that meant that I had to leave that wonderful place and one wonderful person. But I was also looking forward to my (short) time at home and to my second semester abroad in Tenerife. It was the first time I would do an internship, and I was a bit concerned about that, because I didn't know if I could do all the required things as they wished. But I forced myself to think optimistic and concentrated on my last days in France. In the evening I went to pick up my boyfriend - before we had only passed some evenings during the week together, but now it was every evening. In my opinion that was a good sign for our future relationship, because he really seemed to care. He also asked quite often why I had to leave and things like that, and that showed me that he didn't want me to leave. I felt quite guilty because of that, but I had to continue with my life and for the moment, France was not my place to be - even if I could really imagine to live there one day (maybe together with him). And he had to finish his thesis and find a job and everything, so for both of us it was a very important part of our life, but unfortunately not together at the same place.

During the time that I could not sleep during the night because the bed was too small and I had too many things in my head, I thought about something I could give him my last day. I had several ideas, but I was sure that it had to be something very personal and self-made. As we had several names that we used for each other when we were together, maybe I would draw some animals and things. I would also write him a letter with all my thoughts and feelings, to let him know what I was thinking about us (and maybe to get to know what he was thinking). Furthermore, out of a mood I had bought a French book about "How to learn German for Dummies", and as I didn't need it, I would give it to him as well. Maybe he would see it as sign or have a look through it at least. I knew that one couldn't learn German with such a book, but it could be a beginning at least.

Photo gallery