'Le véritable voyage de découverte... avoir de nouveaux yeux'

Alongside attempting to learn some French and going to Ocean on a Friday night, during my last two years as a student at Nottingham I have worked part-time at a design agency. Last year, a French girl (hi Elisa!) came to work there for part of her Gap Year- not only could we swap knowledge of the others’ mother tongue but we got on, too (bonus!) 

Elisa was around during my British Council application; choices, interview, paper-work and The Waiting (oh-so necessary capitalisation). I had my heart set on Bordeaux and coincidentally Elisa lives in this very region, in a little village just outside of the town called Périgueux, in the Dordogne countryside.

It only made perfect sense to take the opportunity to go to visit her and see an entirely fresh side of the Bordelaise landscape! So, on the weekend of the 6^th – 8^th December, I hopped on a train and made my way to the East of the South-East. Unbeknown to me at the time, my ticket was taking me to a weekend full of fun, family and firsts.

So, Elisa met me on the train and we headed into the city of Périgueux together- we had takeaway pasta (get on this, England!) and walked around the Russian Christmas market. Our afternoon was topped off with a chocolat viennois (one of the best Year Abroad discoveries) and we headed back into the countryside; as we drove up hills, down tree-arched roads, amongst vast fields we sang along to French radio, it was like a scene out of a teenage coming-of-age film- all too perfect.

The next day we indulged in a gros-matin and ate both breakfast and lunch together as a family- I cannot express how happy I am to be living with Sylvette and that might be why I hadn’t realised until then how much I missed the family dynamic-  it is something special.

I had a vague idea of what the afternoon would consist of- pendant son temps libre, Elisa aime faire l’équitation- so I was quite prepared for what I thought was horse-riding (the boots, the helmet, the saddle, the horse), but I had no idea that it would make me feel the way I did! So, after another movie-like drive around the countryside, we arrived at a ranch on top of a hill. The view as we got out of the car was astounding- the day was gorgeous in itself but the sight of horses and deer in vast fields over-looking (yet more of) the autumnal landscape… It was going to be an afternoon of wonders.

We started by brushing the horses. For those who aren’t horse-savvy (I feel it is acceptable that I count myself a little horse-savvy now…), they like to roll in dirt in the winter to protect themselves from the cold, so it made for a good job. This was unbelievably calming- maybe it was the romantic setting with the autumn light dappling through the leaves (Shakespeare eat your heart out) but I really felt as if I had some kind of affinity with the horse- caring for it and trying to gain an equal trust, it was quite powerful.

 It was then time to take them to the yard… but obviously I had to ‘hop on’ first. It was high. Very high. Suddenly I became very aware that I was not (100%) in control of my own trajectory. But, with a few rounds of the yard, I was surprisingly at ease! It was then time to go, so I followed Elisa out from the yard… only to then to discover that ‘time to go’ meant ‘time to go and further explore the Dordogne countryside by horse-back’.  

I have never done something so terrifying, exhilarating and exciting of equal measure. The day was beautiful, the countryside was magical and the horse-riding was fantastic. I learnt something about myself that afternoon* and I can’t thank Elisa enough for opening my eyes to it!

*I learnt that I look damn fantastic on a horse.

I'm booking my tickets for Round 2, Elisa!