Now that I’ve moved to my last host family I can give an update on the host families in general – due to multiple factors I’ve now lived on just about every side of Toulouse! I’m now staying with my third and last host family, the Charazac family in Castelmaurou (North East Toulouse). I have two host sisters, one studying full time in England and the other in my class. My host dad is really into guitars and has a rock star haircut to match.. it’s the host mother who keeps the family sane.
My second host family – with whom I stayed during the Summer holidays – were the Mateos family. They were a lot of fun but I probably only spent a combined time of two weeks there. They lived in Southern Toulouse. I had two older host brothers who helped out with my French but who spent a lot of time at the Fac (Uni).
My first host family, the Troncs, lived in Pibrac, North West Toulouse. I had an older host sister and an older host brother, both of whom studied in other towns but visited on the weekends. It was with this family that I got to learn the most about France and find my feet in a new country, so I think I’ll always think of them as the best – or at least the most influential – host family (the other families were still amazing). It was here that I took up VTT (Mountain Biking) and developed an addiction for cherries (we had four mature trees and three growing trees in the back yard that proved more than enough every day).
Due to weekends away, holidays, trips and last minute changes I’ve also lived with other families, two in Toulouse, two on the beach, four during the Canal du Midi bike trip, two in England, all for less than a week, but all of whom were amazingly friendly and hospitable.