My birthday was yesterday. I turned 20!!!! YAY! If it wasn't for the friends I have here it probably would've been miserable.
Thursday was the beginning of the weekend here in France. May 8th is the end of the war in Europe and a national holiday which means a 3 day weekend. Thursday night a bunch of us went to a bbq at the Lac de Maine. Piper, Cate, Emma and I decided to walk while most others took the bus. We are so much better people for it. We were able to enjoy the beautiful weather and walk along the river/lake. On the downside it took an hour to walk there. We finally made it and enjoyed some sausages on baguette (because there are no buns here) and chips. Along with beer, wine and of course brie cheese! It was really enjoyable to just hang out with friends.
On the way to the spot where the bbq was we saw this jungle gym thing. It was not a jungle gym for little kids. The thing was huge and really tall!!! We climbed up it and it was a good distance above the groudn and not the easiest thing to climb. But sitting up there and singing songs was probably the high light of the evening.
We finished of by walking back along the river and sat by the side to finish our beers before heading home.
Friday was my BIRTHDAY!!!! which was pretty awesome! I went to Nantes with friends. The train ride was the wonderful 40 minute one. Once we got there we tried to go to the Musee des Beaux Arts de Nantes, but because it was a National holiday, we had forgotten that most
museums would have been closed. Luckily enough the Chateaux was open. Which was good because it had just been refurbished for the past 15 years, so this was the first year it was reopened. It was interesting. They talked about slavery a bit and it showed the French racism that still exists today. Instead of talking about how bad slavery was, they showed the more positive pointsof how lucrative the slave trade was for the white man, calling them wise. We were glad to go anyways because it was kinda cold and had started raining. We denied the weather and all (except Cate) wore dresses and sandals. The afternoon got a lot warmer and we enjoyed it sitting in the Jardin de Plantes which was beautiful. Dinner that night we went to a creperie that was in my France guide book. The meals were quite interesting. I ended up getting a crepe with some sort of green sauce (don't know what it was) and fried roll things with meat from tiny lobsters in them. In addition, the chef puts one of the lobsters on the plate. That kinda freaked me out. But none the less it was a pretty good meal. We finished the night back in Angers with dessert drinks (passoa, cointreau, and pineapple juice.. yum).
Today I was able to sleep in late. I met Emma around lunch time and we did a bit of shopping. After which I proceeded to take a three hour nap. I felt bad that I hadn't talked to my host family in a few days, so I went downstairs to make a cup of tea to hopefully run into one of them in the kitchen. To my surprise, Brigitte had made me a chocolate cake and they got me a present. They were so sweet and kept saying that 20 was a big deal. So I sat with them for an hour while we just talked. It made me so happy that they had remembered!!! And I got one of the prettiest picture frames.
After that Piper and I went over to Emma's for chocolate cookies (yum!) and rum and cokes. With which we enjoyed watching "O brother where art thou!". It was the first time I watched it and really enjoyed that movie!
Recent photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026069&id=1195471084&l=15b9e17e04
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026204&id=1195471084&l=fb4c525aa4
Thursday was the beginning of the weekend here in France. May 8th is the end of the war in Europe and a national holiday which means a 3 day weekend. Thursday night a bunch of us went to a bbq at the Lac de Maine. Piper, Cate, Emma and I decided to walk while most others took the bus. We are so much better people for it. We were able to enjoy the beautiful weather and walk along the river/lake. On the downside it took an hour to walk there. We finally made it and enjoyed some sausages on baguette (because there are no buns here) and chips. Along with beer, wine and of course brie cheese! It was really enjoyable to just hang out with friends.
On the way to the spot where the bbq was we saw this jungle gym thing. It was not a jungle gym for little kids. The thing was huge and really tall!!! We climbed up it and it was a good distance above the groudn and not the easiest thing to climb. But sitting up there and singing songs was probably the high light of the evening.
We finished of by walking back along the river and sat by the side to finish our beers before heading home.
Friday was my BIRTHDAY!!!! which was pretty awesome! I went to Nantes with friends. The train ride was the wonderful 40 minute one. Once we got there we tried to go to the Musee des Beaux Arts de Nantes, but because it was a National holiday, we had forgotten that most
museums would have been closed. Luckily enough the Chateaux was open. Which was good because it had just been refurbished for the past 15 years, so this was the first year it was reopened. It was interesting. They talked about slavery a bit and it showed the French racism that still exists today. Instead of talking about how bad slavery was, they showed the more positive pointsof how lucrative the slave trade was for the white man, calling them wise. We were glad to go anyways because it was kinda cold and had started raining. We denied the weather and all (except Cate) wore dresses and sandals. The afternoon got a lot warmer and we enjoyed it sitting in the Jardin de Plantes which was beautiful. Dinner that night we went to a creperie that was in my France guide book. The meals were quite interesting. I ended up getting a crepe with some sort of green sauce (don't know what it was) and fried roll things with meat from tiny lobsters in them. In addition, the chef puts one of the lobsters on the plate. That kinda freaked me out. But none the less it was a pretty good meal. We finished the night back in Angers with dessert drinks (passoa, cointreau, and pineapple juice.. yum).Today I was able to sleep in late. I met Emma around lunch time and we did a bit of shopping. After which I proceeded to take a three hour nap. I felt bad that I hadn't talked to my host family in a few days, so I went downstairs to make a cup of tea to hopefully run into one of them in the kitchen. To my surprise, Brigitte had made me a chocolate cake and they got me a present. They were so sweet and kept saying that 20 was a big deal. So I sat with them for an hour while we just talked. It made me so happy that they had remembered!!! And I got one of the prettiest picture frames.
After that Piper and I went over to Emma's for chocolate cookies (yum!) and rum and cokes. With which we enjoyed watching "O brother where art thou!". It was the first time I watched it and really enjoyed that movie!
Recent photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026069&id=1195471084&l=15b9e17e04
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026204&id=1195471084&l=fb4c525aa4
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