On October 25th, we went to Oxford. And it was brilliant.

6:45 AM: My alarm went off and for a second I thought I was blind as I could not open my eyes because of how early it was. But despite the fact that my whole body was crying to get some more sleep I managed to get out of bed all excited and ready to go to Oxford. I was to meet one of my friends I hadn’t seen in a really long time so you can only imagine how eager I was to arrive there as soon as possible.

It was rather cold outside but for once I hadn’t forgotten my coat so everything was great. As soon as I arrived at the Interchange to wait for the bus I noticed that most people were torn between two feelings, the first one being how they wished they could go back to their cosy and warm bed and the second one was how they were excited for the bus to arrive and finally be on their way to Oxford. At 10:15 AM we were hitting the road.

The bus trip was pretty fast and most of the people – including myself – were half asleep on our way to Oxford. The town looked so gorgeous and cute, full of things to visit and discover. We got dropped off on some road that was quite busy but that was all I could notice with my sleepy eyes.

Then breakfast followed in a lovely café above a bike shop, not far away from the castle I got the opportunity to visit afterwards. My friend and I wandered around the town for most of the day. As she is a student at Oxford University we got to go in some parts of the universities I couldn’t have gone to on my own. It was truly amazing. I was existing in a world without any time constraints…it was as if the clock had somehow stopped and all had become calm and quiet. We walked past Christchurch campus to sit on a bench by the river. People rowing, ducks glancing at us in hope of some breadcrumbs, and sneaky squirrels surrounded us. The sun gently warming us up was a bonus.

The city centre was a theatre; waves of people moving together, street artists performing in that ocean of people, people dressed up for Halloween that was getting closer.  I remember one guy that was playing the violin while walking on a thin rope and how peaceful he looked, though I was crossing my fingers for him not to fall down and break something.

It was lunchtime already and what better thing is there for a lunch treat than a pie! Let me tell you something, I had always been a bit suspicious regarding the British “cuisine” but it was wonderful. A lovely pie with beef and bacon, mashed potatoes, and gravy. I was delighted. And I could barely walk again because of all the food I had eaten.

The afternoon went on fast. We spent a lot of time in the Ashmolean Museum which is, and I’m not even anything near to get that right, huge. There was a wonderful collection of works by Joseph Beuys and Jörg Immendorff. At that moment I wish I could speak German since most of the pieces of work were in that language but I managed to understand some of it (and read the translations when there were some). We wandered around some rooms that were about antique Chinese and Japanese art. It was breathtaking.

But then it was time to go. I only had half an hour remaining to enjoy a mint milkshake with some delicious pastry before meeting the group again to take a photo all together and rush home.

The bus was – almost – waiting for us. Not to say it was late. However nothing could stop us, nothing could bring us done or spoil the day. So we started singing – or what looked like singing – loads of Spanish, English, and French songs to pass the time. And we carried on on the bus.

I was truly tired when I arrived home, so tired that I had to crawl into the bathtub to relax. The day I spent in Oxford was fantastic and I really want to go back there. It felt longer than just one day; so soothing that I forgot about the essays I had to submit in a few days. But who cares? Oxford was amazing.

 

Written by Marie Anne

 

Marie is a 20-year-old French student from Normandy studying in Angers. She is doing a double degree in languages with economics and literature. She deeply enjoys reading, video games, and playing with her pets – which she says she misses a lot at the moment. She arrived in Southampton in September and claims ‘’everything has been amazing so far’’. I might even stay in the UK for my master’s, who knows? (Marie)