le 2 avril

Another weekend gone. Last week we had individual meetings with one of the program directors to talk about how our semester has gone now that we’re more than halfway done, and I almost cried because I don’t want to leave.

Our weekend in Brittany was very enjoyable. We took a train to Rennes, just under two hours from Paris. Our hotel was a 10 minute walk from the train station. The area we stayed in wasn’t the nicest but it wasn't dangerous and the hotel was great. Another part of the town within walking distance had the same French charm that I’m used to now: windy cobblestone paths, slightly slanted buildings, half-opened shutters.

On Friday we had free time after we settled into the hotel until we met for dinner at 19h00. We went to a creperie. The crepes were okay – goat cheese and walnut for dinner and chocolate for dessert – but everyone was a little disappointed.

Saturday morning, we took a bus to Mont Saint Michel (I didn't get great pictures of it from a distance myself), a little over an hour from Rennes. It’s a large, steep rocky hill upon which looms a large abbey. Built into the banks of the all are smaller residences, now shops and restaurants. Mont Saint Michel is particularly striking when you approach it because it is surrounded entirely by flatlands.

The little island village dates back to the 6^th century. It was naturally a perfect fortress because of its height and isolation. It is surrounded by quicksand – not so fun if you’re a 15^th century knight trying to invade, wearing pounds of metal armor.

 We picnicked at Mont Saint Michel, then climbed back on the bus to drive to Saint-Malo, a port city on the coast of Brittany. We walked the beach, and I touched the Atlantic Ocean from the eastern side. The city was completely destroyed during the bombings of World War II, and the buildings standing today are reconstructions. There is a castle full of small shops and eateries, where we walked around and got tea and waffles.

Saturday night, we went to dinner as a group to a restaurant called Paix where we had roasted duck and potatoes. Amazing. Afterward, we went to the hotel and I went to bed fairly early because Devan, our friend Anthony, and I were getting up early to go to Palm Sunday mass with Julie, one of the girls who work for our program.

There turned out to be a bit of chaos with the bud schedule Sunday morning, and we didn’t end up making it to the church we were supposed to go to, but we found another one in Rennes, where we got our palms then walked with the parish members through the town in a procession to another church for mass 10 minutes away. We almost got trampled by some cute little old French nuns, but the whole experience was very nice.

If you read my blog from the beginning, you might remember me mentioning how the sun didn’t rise here until close to 9h00 our first days in Paris. Well, this is flipped now. It doesn’t get dark until close to 21h00. Someone told me that in the summer, it’s still light out at 22h30. I love it, but I think it’s going to throw me off in two months when I go back to the states and it gets darker two hours earlier.

I still haven’t figured out how to add space to my Blogspot account for pictures, so here is the link to my Brittany photo album on Facebook: Bretagne

Please, someone let me know if it doesn't work. It’s frustrating, I wish I could post them directly on this page, but the link will have to do for now.