April Update

This week, I had a big homework assignment/paper due in each of my classes. For my art history class, I wrote a 5 page paper about the influence of Japan on 19th century French painters, for French Romanticism, I wrote 5 pages defending a quote about fantasy tales (for which I had to read and cite three different books), and for religion class I wrote a 4 page biography about Jacques Maritain, a French Catholic philosopher. Yikes. Needless to say I've been quite busy and stressed the last week or so, but it feels so good to have finished all my work. Now it's spring break! When I return to Nantes after my week off, I will only have one week left of classes then it'll be finals week already. I can't believe how quickly this semester has flown by! Here's a review of what I've been up to the last couple weeks:

Two weekends ago (April 8-10), I took a train to Paris to visit my friend Shelvy for a couple days. It's crazy how easy it is just to pop over to Paris for the weekend; it's just a painless 2 hour train ride--like going to Chicago from home or school. Shelvy is studying in Paris for the semester, so she's probably seen the famous monuments and taken pictures a million times already, but she humored me and let me play the tourist. We visited Notre Dame de Paris and Les Invalides, picnicked beneath the Eiffel Tower (and again at Jardin de Luxembourg), and went to a big party hosted by her university. It was great to see Shelvy and all that Paris has to offer, but I'm so glad I chose to study in Nantes for the semester instead of the bustling French capital. While there's undoubtedly a lot of interesting things do there, I heard so much English and saw countless American fast-food chains and other "comforts" from home. I really appreciate the language and cultural immersion I've been able to experience this semester in Nantes. I have my frustrations and failures, but I know I've improved so much in French thanks to the lack of opportunity to lapse into speaking English while with my host family, at restaurants and in stores, or sitting in class. But having Paris so close and accessible to visit means I really have the best of both worlds.

Looking super French with Shelvy by the Eiffel Tower

The Nantes Canaries are the yellow guys

Last Friday, a group of IES students went to a Nantes soccer game for a real cultural sports experience. It was a lot of fun despite a 1-1 tie game and a mostly empty stadium. The most exciting part was when someone dressed up as a big bag of chips came dancing out on the field...unfortunately I did not capture that on camera.

Picnic time!

Then on Saturday, we took a day trip to the cute little Italian-inspired neighboring town, Clisson. My friend Alyssa and I explored the adorable streets and scoped out a boulangerie where we bought sandwiches for lunch. We met up with a bunch of other IES peeps and had a nice picnic alongside the river, Château de Clisson looming in the distance.  It was such a beautiful, relaxing day that I fell asleep in the grass halfway through eating my sandwich. 

So classy.

After lunch/nap-time, we headed to a vignoble (vinyard) to learn about wine production and taste some local white Muscadet. We were offered a glass of their 2009, 2005, and 2000 wine, made from hand picked Melon de Bourgogne grapes. I'm not usually a big fan of wine, but I really enjoyed the Clisson Muscadet, especially the 2005.

Today, Alyssa and I checked out the Natural History Museum of Nantes. The museum is only a 2 minute walk or so down the block from IES, so it was a pretty spur of the moment decision to go. I had a great time looking at million year old fossils, animal skeletons, and live snakes. It was also quite educational to learn the French names for all kinds of obscure rock types and animal species. 

Alyssa blends right in with the exhibit

Happy Easter everyone!

Marseille

The past couple weekends, I was able to venture beyond Nantes and visit some of the other cities France has to offer. The first weekend in May, a couple friends (Kathryn and Meghan) and I headed southeast to check out Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. We had a couple travel days left on the Eurail pass we purchased for our Spain trip way back when, so our little weekend excursion didn't break the bank. Marseille turned out to be a really bustling, interesting city, albeit quite dirty and littered. However, maneuvering around piles of dog poop and old newspapers was a small price to pay for the beautiful view of the ocean and fun cultural experiences we had. The three of us checked out an extensive flea market/rummage sale set up en plein air, with lots of French books, paintings, and antique knick-knacks. Meghan and I just looked around (and were particularly amused by a box of old, previously written on postcards), but Kathryn actually bought a pretty rosary for her grandmother.

After making our way through the flea market, we (naturally) stopped at a boulangerie for pain au chocolat and a bakery for café crème and chocolat chaud. So very French of us. The lady at the boulangerie was very nice and engaged us in an interesting conversation about dating, marriage, and childbearing. Apparently she finds that people are waiting too long to get married because they're more concerned about having money than being in love. We just wanted to get our pastries and run, but she seemed intent on convincing us to have children as soon as possible. Strange. Aside from being awkwardly forward life couns, the boulangerie lady offered us our first experience hearing a strong southern French accent. I can only assume she had a Marseillais accent, but she spoke French much differently than I'd ever heard before. If I didn't listen intently to her words, it almost sounded like she was speaking Spanish or Italian. I guess that makes sense, considering the city's relative proximity to those two countries. Anyway, after we escaped that conversation, we took our pastries and coffee/hot chocolates and enjoyed them outside the church St. Vincent-de-Paul. It was such a gorgeous day to relax outside with a couple friends in the south of France.

Vieux Port

Other highlights of the weekend include spending 10 minutes unsuccessfully attempting to unlock our hotel room door before the receptionist came to help us, goofing around Vieux Port, and stumbling upon a group of French boys playing instruments in the street while wearing dresses. Perhaps my favorite part of the weekend was our quest to find Notre Dame de la Garde, a breathtaking basilica on Marseille's highest natural point. It ended up being quite the arduous climb, especially in flip flops, but we made it to the top the the hill and found the church a little less than an hour before it closed for the day. I can't decide which was more beautiful: the view looking down on the whole city and the Mediterrean sea (including Château d'If of The Count of the Monte Cristo fame), or the unique and intricate mosaic decorated interior of Notre Dame de la Garde. In either case, I'm so glad we ventured up that hill!

View from the hill

Notre Dame de la Garde: Interior 

Notre Dame de la Garde: Exterior

To top off an already near-perfect weekend, the three of us spent the morning and early afternoon the next day (Sunday) before our train picnicking and tanning on the beach. The weather was perfect and the background noise was delightful: ocean tide lapping up on the shore, French families chatting excitedly together, and an intense 'volleyball' game where the players were only allowed to use their heads or feet to get the ball over the net.

Enjoying a delicious brioche & jam sandwich on the beach

As if I'm not spoiled enough, the next weekend I took another trip--this time to Paris--to spend a few days with my friend Shelvy from high school. So stay tuned for an update about that (and more!).

Normandy

A couple weekends ago, I went on an excursion with my study abroad program to Normandy, a region in the north of France. We left IES around 8am on Saturday, and arrived in Caen by noon. The bus dropped us off right in front of the Château de Caen (built by William the Conquerer c. 1060!), so naturally we explored that first. We enjoyed a picnic lunch next to a patch of flowers in the shape of a butterfly, right in front of the impressive castle.

How many people can say they've had a picnic
in the shadow of an 11th century French castle?

The weather was supposed to be terrible for the weekend, and our program director advised us to dress for cold, so it was tempting to just lay there and soak up the glorious sun when the warnings turned out to be unfounded. Instead, we walked around Caen and discovered its many marvels, including Eglise St. Pierre, Abbaye aux Hommes, and Eglise St. Etienne. It really is a beautiful city rich with tradition and history.

The next day, we got back on our big coach buses to head to les plages de débarquement (D-Day Landing Beaches), the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, and Point du Hoc. I had visited these places already while I was in France during high school, but that didn't make my second time any less emotional or moving. One of the professors from IES came on the trip with us to explain the historical significance of each places we visited. It was interesting to hear about the American contributions to the French war effort, but from a French perspective. 

Arromanches

American cemetery

Pointe du Hoc, standing in a bomb crater from WWII

This past weekend I visited Marseille with my friends Kathryn and Meghan, so check back for an update about my adventures in the south of France!