We half-expected the vendors to speak French since we were just over the border but they didn’t (they also didn’t speak English!) Ordering our lunch involved a lot of pointing and holding up fingers. We got delicious sausages with mustard and yummy baked cinnamon sugar dough for dessert. On Sunday night we cooked a big dinner. Monday we slept in and walked around more and checked out the souvenir shops and sat in a café before we had to check out of our Airbnb. Our flight was delayed by about two hours, which was a bummer, but allowed me to get done some of the homework that I’d avoided this weekend. When we finally got back to Nantes my host dad picked me up from the airport, which was so nice since the airport is just outside of Nantes. I’m so grateful that he helped me avoid a shuttle ride and two tram rides late at night. It was also nice to come home to a delicious dinner and some Easter chocolate! 

I can’t believe it’s only a week and a half until I will be in Italy! This semester has gone by far too quickly!

This past weekend we went to Caen to see the Normandy D-Day beaches. We fit quite a lot into a short trip! We left Saturday morning at the crack of dawn for a 5 hour bus ride. As I was walking to school the boulangeries were just opening and I got a warm and fresh pain au chocolat that was the best one I’ve had so far! 

After arriving in Caen we got lunch and then re-grouped to go to the Caen WWII memorial. This was a really interesting museum and well done in covering a lot of WWII history. It was nice to have a refresher before seeing the beaches. 

On Monday I gave them a mini tour of centre-ville and we got galettes for lunch. For Monday night my host mom insisted that my mom and sister come over for dinner so they could meet each other and see the house! This dinner was one of my favorite moments in France. My host dad speaks a little bit of English so between him, me, JJ, and my oldest host brother, Arnaud, who speak both French and English we could get by with enough to translate for the others. It was very touching to see my families meet one another, and especially to see my mom and host mom communicate in looks of gratitude and other nonverbal ways since neither of them share a common language. One of the funnier parts of the dinner was when my host dad wanted to express to my mom that I was easy to host because I’m easy-going and eager to integrate into their family life. He tried expressing this by saying “Marissa is a easy girl.” It was clear that this isn’t what he was trying to say, but it was funny to see my mom’s reaction of confusion and see my host brother burst out laughing. It was nice that JJ could speak a little French with the family, too! Louis (youngest host brother) was pretty quiet for a lot of dinner and JJ tried to include him by asking what he liked to do and his favorite dessert. 

My mom and JJ were in Nantes for the whole week because it was JJ’s spring break. I was pretty busy with classes and midterm exams, but they got to see a lot of the sights and history that Nantes has to offer! 

That weekend I went to Trentemoult with my friends because I had to do a presentation on it for class. In our French grammar classes each person has to present on a small topic about Nantes which has been really interesting and beneficial to learn new tidbits of information! Trentemoult is a small fishing village on the southern side of Nantes across the Loire. It doesn’t quite feel like France! The houses are all so colorful because they would paint them with the extra paint from their boats. There are also a ton of exotic plants because when captains who lived there would go overseas they would bring back these plants. 

It was nice to have a weekend in Nantes after being in Barcelona last weekend because I will not be in Nantes for the weekend for the next three weeks. Next weekend we are going to Caen to see the Normandy D-Day beaches, and then me and my friends are going to Strasbourg for Easter weekend. Hooray for adventure!

This weekend I got a chance to see one of my close friends from high school in Barcelona. She is studying abroad there this semester and she was nice enough to host me for the weekend. Unfortunately the flight times weren’t very good, I got into Barcelona around 10 on Friday night and I had to start my journey back to France at 9:30 Sunday morning. But it was too good of an opportunity to pass up a direct flight from Nantes that wasn’t super expensive (rare). I also got to have a travel buddy! My friend Brigit was visiting a friend in Barcelona this weekend too.

After dinner we went right to bed to prepare for our SUPER busy Saturday. 

Saturday morning we got up pretty early and got a breakfast of Chocolate con churros. The consistency of the chocolate was so thick and the taste was so rich, it tasted almost like they melted down a bar of dark chocolate and put it in a mug. 

After breakfast we made our way to Port Vell and the beach. It was so wonderful to be in the sun and warmth, Nantes is still pretty cold and rainy most days.