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!