The next morning I was at the station, boarded the train and was off towards the southeast. There was another G.l. on the train on his way to Besancon. I got there and found that we would live in the university dormitory, a very nice looking building facing the Doubs river. I was assigned to a room, third floor front, exactly in the center of the dorm. Outside my window was a stone planter box, look closely and you can see it. My room mate was from South Carolina.

Besancon was an old Roman town. there still existed remains of the old walls, gates and pillars that may have been parts of a temple. In later years, the town became the center for watch making in France. The University was also known for something else --- Louis Pasteur had done some of his research there at the University. We were to be with the regular French students. There were some 40 of us G.l.s at the university. I went over the next morning and discovered that the art appreciation - architecture class was already filled and I needed to register for a different course. They offered Botany and Zoology, so I took those courses. I also had to take conversational French and French grammar. One of the more interesting things that I saw was the tests given those French kids hoping to be admitted into the University. I recall seeing one young girl in such an exam. She was at a blackboard solving a complex mathematical problem while members of the faculty sat in the back of the room. I hope she passed. I would have failed that exam.

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