I’m definitely trying to keep up with blogging when I can. A lot of the time I feel like my life has become a standard routine of going to classes and hanging out with my friends. But even in this new routine that has become my life in France, there are little moments and memories that I will want to remember, no matter how simple they might be.  

This weekend was pretty quiet here in Nantes. A lot of my friends had gone to Paris so there were only a few of my friends who were still here this weekend. Friday night, me and my friends Tatianna, Brigit and Hannah went to a steak frites restaurant called L’entrecote. Hannah and I had seen it when we were in centre-ville earlier that week and the line was out the door so we knew it had to be good. I was surprised at the popularity of such a gimmicky concept: 19 euro for unlimited fries, a hefty serving of steak with the restaurant’s “special sauce” (which is literally just butter and random seasonings), salad and bread. It was one of my favorite meals here and I loved just getting a chance to sit and chat with my friends over such yummy food to ring in the weekend. After dinner we met up with one of our French friends, Tiphaine, for a drink before heading home.

Saturday, Hannah, Brigit and I decided to take Tram Ligne 1 all the way to the end to visit the mall. I was expecting a more simple, European concept of a mall but I could not have been more wrong. This may be a little dramatic but this was the most beautiful mall I’ve ever been in. I think Hannah described it best: “I feel like I’m in America, but everything is just slightly off.” We browsed in the stores for a while before we got lunch at Ikea and headed back to Nantes. 

That night I ate crepes for dinner at my favorite creperie, Heb Ken. I think I could eat crepes and only crepes for the rest of my life if I had to. For dinner I love getting a galette with ham, cheese and an egg. And I of course had a salted caramel crepe for dessert with some cider. 

Since we were bored and it was raining we decided to go to the movie theater where we saw “Les 8 salopards” (The Hateful Eight). The film was in English with French subtitles. It was cool to see some of the disparities in the subtitled version of the film. There are definitely some language aspects that can’t be translated, like certain dialects and phrasings. I also found it funny that when Oswaldo Mobray was talking, the subtitles referred to him as the “bourreau anglais” (English hangman). Even though that was not directly said by the actor, an English speaker can easily hear the English accent and infer that he is British. It’s more difficult to hear accents when you don’t speak the language so this detail was added to the subtitles.

Overall I had a very fun weekend. It was nice to relax before the big vacation coming up which will be filled with traveling! On Thursday I am leaving for Paris with three of my friends and we will be there for just shy of 24 hours before flying out to Copenhagen. I will be in Copenhagen with seven of my other friends for a few days before heading to Amsterdam for the rest of the break. Ten days of traveling will certainly be fun but exhausting! 

A bientôt!
Marissa