Things I'm going to miss...

I leave France soon, in less than 3 weeks, which seems so weird!! I am super excited to come home (which I hope is a given), but there are still things here that I am going to miss. I have been asked by a few people what I'm going to miss the most, which is impossible to answer. So here is a small list, which is by no means comprehensive. It contains small, unimportant things, as well as things that have really touched me, but all are things I will fondly remember about my time in France.

~ Watching the mail get delivered by a mailman on a moped, riding on the sidewalk
~ Baguettes and croissants
~ Cheap, good cheese
~ My roommates, who have been so great to have during these 7 months!
~ Speaking French regularly
~ Catching up on old TV shows  on French TV that I can't watch in the US. Is the A-Team still on any American channel? Because you can watch 6 hours of it every Saturday in France!  Also: Little House on the Prairie, MacGyver, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Zorro, all of the old Simpsons, Xena: Warrior Princess, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Wild Thornberries, Malcom in the Middle and Bewitched.
~ the ease of walking to the store, and the expectation that it's normal. If I willingly walked a 1.5 miles one way to the store, people in the US would think I was crazy. Here, it's ok, or at least not as weird.
~ the ease of travel to experience other countries, languages, and cultures
~ Baguettes
~ The cheap, but still good, wine
~ French pharmaceutics and cold medicine. I'm convinced it's a bajillion times more effective than anything I have ever bought at CVS, and the pharmacists are super helpful and can do more than in the US.
~Taking my own bags to the grocery store and it being normal. Guess I will just be going to Aldi's!
~Having a Medieval church and a Renaissance castle just up the road.
~A view of the mountains! (I know I can get that in the US, just not in Indiana)
~the price of health care. Going to the doctor, even without insurance, costs about 30 euros.
~Trains and the extensive public transportation system
~ My students, even the tough ones, because they taught me about teaching and how to deal with difficult children.
~seeing everyone's  Doppelgangers  or at least what they would like as a kid. It really is crazy how exactly alike so many people look.
~how TV shows only have 1 commercial break during the average episode. You watch 12 minutes, have 3 minutes of commercial, and then the rest of the episode. It's so much better than commercials ever 3 minutes. 
~BAGUETTES!!!!
~teaching regularly, although hopefully that will be remedied soon
~the small, specialized food shops (butcher, bakery, etc.) which are classically French
~the tiny cars

I'm sure there a hundreds of other things that I will think of, especially once I get back. But in the mean time, I'm trying to savor these things now, before I leave.

From Roussillon with love