A Frenchman’s impressions of Cardiff

5th June 2015

I am from Toulouse, in the South of France, and I arrived here in Cardiff on the 26^th of April 2015. I am here for an internship of nine weeks. When you travel to a new place you have to remember that some things here are different from your country. For example, when I cross roads here I am always looking in the wrong direction, because in my country cars drive on the right side of the road.

It was my first time in Cardiff, so everything was new for me there. I can remember that before leaving France, when I told to my friends that I will move to Cardiff for an internship, their reactions were like “So you’re leaving to England” or “I hope you will meet a lot of English people”. Cardiff is not a very famous as a capital city. That is why I was finally surprised to discover a beautiful city, with lots of things to do.

There is a lot of parks and gardens if you want to walk out of the city and to stay close to the city centre, and all the activities that capital cities are offering: big shopping centres like St David’s or The Capitol, shopping streets (Queen Street is the main High Street), lots of pubs and restaurants, etc.

Plus there is Cardiff Bay, which is like another city because you can find everything there and the place is perfect for example if you want to walk through the lovely waterfront, and you can walk to there from Cardiff’s city centre (25-30min) or take a bus/train.

There are also numerous places around the city which are nice to visit like Barry Island or Caerphilly Castle. I think I won’t have the time to visit all the places that I would like to.

Another important part of Cardiff is its people. They are very friendly and helpful when you are in need. I haven’t met a lot of Welsh people yet because I live in a shared flat with international students from Celtic but I see that Welsh people are very kind and funny.

Lastly, about Celtic, I don’t know what the courses are like because I am not a student here but my flat mates told me that they are learning a lot and that their teachers are kind and the courses are interesting. Moreover, I don’t know the teachers personally but I know the staff of the school, and everybody is very nice and helps me and the students when someone needs it.