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!