This summer from July to September, I was given the opportunity to work at the Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen where my main role was to give guided tours in English of the ancient monastery. I would give up to three tours a day to people of all nationalities, all interested in learning more about the kind of lives the monks led in the abbey and also the evolution of the building itself.
In my first week, I met the previous intern who was from Alexandria, another twin city of Caen, who was in her last week of giving guided tours. For the first five days I shadowed her, making notes of the information she was giving and then going away and inserting snippets into my own research. I was given this one week to learn my way around and memorise as much of the history as possible. In addition to this, I was given complete freedom in terms of how I wanted to conduct my tours; the route I would take, the stories I would tell and even devising ways of letting the visitors interact with the tour/building more.
Due to the fact the visitors came from such a wide range of countries, I was also able to learn from their stories! For example, at the Abbaye-aux-Hommes the monks used to drink cider, having their own pressoir on the premises, whereas in Belgium, the Netherlands and several other neighbouring countries they drank beer. As well as this, one of the more interesting parts of the tours was receiving different people’s interpretations of pieces. The best example is perhaps a painting of Jesus being met with Temptation, in which Temptation is personified as a woman with goat’s hooves. This was the one which drew the most reactions as a lot of people saw the devilish symbolism in this while others were initially more under the impression these were a fancy kind of footwear from the time! I found each tour gave me new anecdotes for future ones, as well as new questions to go away and find out more about.
As well as conducting tours of the abbey, I also helped at reception where at first, I would give extra information in English if necessary, but after just a few weeks I found myself able to advise people in French too! I surprised myself in just how quickly my ability to communicate in French improved. Being faced with having to speak French every day was initially tiring, having to translate in my head every word I heard, but gradually it became more and more natural thanks to my surroundings.
As well as practising by talking to colleagues, I also improved my confidence in speaking French with the intern from Caen’s German twin city of Würzburg. Together we would eat lunch and spend time together outside of work hours, only ever communicating in French and both noticed the improvement in our ability to think in the language too- overall improving our fluency together. We hope to meet up again in the near future and I am glad to have been able to make friends from so many different places and learn about and compare so many different contrasting cultures during my stay here.
During the internship I stayed with a host family in the outskirts of the city and this was perhaps the greatest way to consolidate the colloquial French which I had picked up during work hours as they were all understanding of the fact I did not understand absolutely everything and explained certain nuances behind the words. This as well as simply observing day to day life began to show me just how different France is culturally from England. Even things such as eating later in the evening, and then being presented with so many courses when we did eat, were completely different to the way I lived back in England.
With friends and colleagues, I explored the various restaurants and cafes on offer. Even though I was there for two months, I was still discovering new places to eat well into September. As well as discovering these amazing places within the city, there was also a lot to see in the surrounding area! Bayeux (with its famous tapestry) was only a short train journey away and I found myself there on several weekends, as well as Paris which is slightly further but still impressively accessible- as French train tickets tend to be cheaper than what I am used to in England.
As for the city itself, Caen is not huge- but there is always something to do! One event advertised all over the city and seems to be a large part of the city’s summertime culture was Éclats de Rue, which is a series of displays of creative arts which take place all around the city and are always full of people- creating an amazing atmosphere which I found a great way to finish off any working week, or indeed to round off the whole experience in my case!
Generously supported by HIWCF and Brittany Ferries.
