Orientation Weekend

This is going to be a VERY brief story of how awesome my weekend orientation went!

Day One - Oh Ice Breakers
arrived in the city of We started in the morning by loading up the buses outside of the IES Center. I sat with a girl named Alison, she goes to Kenyoan College and is also there by herself (there are quite a few groups from different schools). We chatted about where we've been, what we're doing in Nantes, etc. After a decently long bus ride we arrived at the "house" of our programs director. By house, of course, I mean estate, mansion, miniature chateau. It was HUGE, and you literally walked 300 feet from the back steps into the ocean. That's right, the Atlantic Ocean...well the Bay of Morbihan, but still. We played Ice-Breaker Bingo, ate a snack, then loaded back up. We then Vannes, near the coast in Brittany. Brittany, along with Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Scotland, are considered to be the Celtic Nations. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

Day Two - The Day of Robert Frost
In the morning we visited the Chateau Suscinio, a castle that was built for the Dukes of Bretange. There were wonderful towers, and even a moat. The tour guide was wonderful (and spoke in turn...counterclockwise). After the c French!), and after the visit I stopped and talked with her for a minute about historical interpretation in France (and also asked which direction staircases in the towers normallyastle we went to the Isle aux Moines...the Island of Monks. Yes, Des Moines means The Monks. Bet'cha didn't know that!

We were given bicycles and a picnic lunch, and Alison, Derek and I took off for the other side of the island. We'd met Derek on the bus when he and I started singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody. he took us on literally every little tiny not really even a path there was on the island, which ended up being absolutely wonderful. We ate our lunch on the south end, rode past a nude beach full of naked old men (blech), went shelling on another beach, rode back around to the south and found a dolmen, a Celtic rock formation. The air around it almost vibrated. I know that sounds lame, and Derek and Alison thought I was crazy, but it really did.

We hopped back on the bikes and rode around for awhile until we found a sandy beach. Derek went swimming while Alison and I waded around. I'd expected the water to be cold but it was actually quite warm! We dried off, then went wandering for awhile longer, past a bunch of beautiful little old houses. There was a little old man in a hat in one, who had put out a bucket of water "pour les chiens" - for the dogs. We found another beach that was absolutely beautiful, so we sat down and fantasized what it would be like to live in a place like that. Before we got back on the boat to the mainland we all bought some yummy ice cream. All in all it was a good day. Back in the hotel room, Alison and I watched Star Wars in French, it was really funny. Darth Vader didn't sound anything like James Earl Jones.

Day Three - Magic
We started the day at a manor house that was used during les Moyen Ages, run today by a little old adorable couple. The woman took us around the house, which they have set up to show different periods in which it was used. We all kind of wandered around the courtyard for awhile, looked at some swans, took some pictures, then reboarded the bus.

We then drove to a little creperie, where we were served galettes, a traditional Breton crepe. We got ham and cheese ones, then ones with toffee in the middle. They were so sweet! It was all served with some cider....which wasn't cider like we know it. It was really not good. Really really not good. On the way out we ran into an older couple who asked us where we were all from. Turns out they have daughter in Waterloo, so the wife is learning English on a pink gameboy! It was so cute!

After lunch we went to L'Isle Gavrinis. There was a megalith there, and it was AMAZING. Absolutely amazing. The Celts, for no reason we know, built a tunnel of tables, then a little cave on the inside supported by other rocks. The stones on the inside have all been carved and engraved, and it was another one of those places where the air just sizzled.

Our last stop for the day was a town called Aurey, where Ben Franklin stayed on his way out of France. We stopped at a chocolaterie and bought some chocolates, and I got my first coke of the trip. It was really fun to just sit and hang out by the river eating AMAZING chocolate!

We went back to the hotel for dinner, then Derek, Alison, Cailtin and I went on a walk around Vannes. It was SO much fun. We wandered down to the castle in the town, where the girls were girls and Derek just laughed at us. But it was SO pretty! Then we walked down to the cathedral, and there were about four different times where we cut off mid-sentance because the view was so astonishing. It took EIGHT centuries to build this cathedral. We then walked around to this gorgeous park...it had a little playground that we took pictures on, beautiful arbors that were actually trees, a river, and a parquet...I'm guessing its used for plays, but we used it for waltzing. It was so much fun!! We walked back, then went to Derek's room to look at Caitlin's pictures.

Day Four - TESTS!?!?
This morning we had our language placement tests. It was like the ACT on Nutella. It was very, very difficult, and we were all really stressing about it. Hopefully it turned out alright. This afternoon we went to Rochefort-en-terre....its like the Hogsmeade of France. The streets were cobbled, there were flowerboxes in every window, and there was even the most amazing candy shop you've ever been in. Seriously it was amazing. I bought Christmas gifts for a couple of people, and some more postcards. If you want me to send you one, let me know!

I came home, Ben's mom dropped me off, and came upstairs to unpack. At 20:00 my mom and I ate dinner and talked about the weekend, house sizes in France, traditional versus non-traditional families, the income gap in the US, running in Nantes, all sorts of things. Tomorrow I'm going to get up early to run, then I start my week long intensive French/learn your way around Nantes orientation. Should be fun!