The first few days . . .

---

---

I didn’t have easy access to the internet for the first few days of my trip, so forgive me if these first few passages are a bit long; I do have to cover seven days’ worth of events.

First things first, the plane. It was a very quick ride (to me) and fairly enjoyable. To my delight, I had a window seat, and to my discontent, I had a wonderful view of the right wing. The view due east was spectacular, however, as the Chicago skyline was surrounded by clouds and fog at sunset, casting this pink and purple luminescence, plus the moon was already full and high, as it were only seven o’clock (we were a bit delayed due to some troublesome Canadians and their baggage). The whole scene was something out of The Neverending Story; I halfway expected to see that huge white dog-dragon coasting by.

We had our choice of quite a few movies, like Over the Hedge, The Sentinel, Poseidon, and The Family Stone. I ended up watching X-Men 3, and hoped to catch something later, as all movies would be shown 3x. I fell asleep right after the movie and didn’t wake up until past breakfast. I didn’t see much of the Atlantic, but I got a great view of the western coast (a lot of farmland, fallow fields) . . . and finally, the Eiffel Tower. Definitely didn’t look so great from the air; I hate to say it, but I was quite disappointed.

We landed perfectly; I found some fellow IES students (about 10), we got our baggage, and headed for the TGV. At that station, we found everyone else, literally. At least 40 students were camped out in the middle of Gare Roissy, surrounded by piles and piles of baggage (think 30-inch uprights per student, x 2 - no wonder the French don’t care for Americans). Either way, the train was a bit boring. I had sat with someone from Wisconsin and another from Minneapolis who makes a biannual trek to Ohio for school, and we all agreed that we could see the same cornfields back home. Thus, we all fell asleep.

Finally, we got to the IES Nantes Center after a short taxi, where our “families” were waiting to meet us. My “mother,” Valérie Garoche-Nicault, and her daughter, Ilèa (9), were there to meet me. The other daughter, Julia (17), was at school. It’s a wonderment that more accidents don’t happen, what with the way the French drive. In Nantes, there is no city-grid. It’s all curved roads. And no one really pays attention to traffic lights.

After a white-knuckled ride to chez Garoche-Nicault, they gave me a tour of the house, and wowee, it is head-to-toe IKEA. I started noticing the posters first, and then all the furniture and lighting kicked in. The house is just amazing. When I get my camera, I’ll take some shots and post them. It’s 3 floors, with 5 bedrooms, huge living room (with skylights), at least 3 dens/studies, a backyard with a deck, trampoline, and walnut tree, one full bathroom, one half-bathroom, one bath, and 2 toilets. I say it like that because the French have a bit of a different bathroom system. There is a room with just a bath, a room with just a shower and a toilet (the half), and a room with just a toilet. My room is a good size, kind of like at home, but the ceiling has got to be at least 15 feet. I’ve got a loft, with the desk underneath, and a little lounge area off to the side. And it’s all pink & orange. I’ve noticed that each room has a bit of a color scheme. I guess we also have a maid who comes 3x a week.


The family’s really nice, the little girl talks nonstop and doesn’t sit still for a second, and the mom is really helpful at translating what the little girl is saying. The other day, Julia was telling me something in English, and I noticed it’s not American English; it’s British, accent and all.

I didn’t get to absorb too much of the house right away, since I had to pack for a 3-day orientation trip the next day (Thursday 9/7). The whole weekend was awesome; it was a really good opportunity to meet all the other students.

We went to Brest, a town about 3-4 hours northwest of Nantes, in Brittany. Quite a cheap weekend since all the meals were served at the hotel and we were never in the actual town of Brest during ‘shopping’ hours. Friday morning, we loaded up on our tour buses, headed for l’Île d’Ouessant, an island off the coast. It was absolutely freezing on the boat over, but the day got so hot. The island has about 900 people, a lot more than I expected, and it had about 6 or 7 lighthouses. We were handed maps and picnic lunches and allowed to explore anywhere we wanted. We ate on the beach, and my friend Andrew got some great shots of the coast. (For the first week, all photos were taken by him.) Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day, which we think the administrators purposely planned it that way so that we wouldn’t go to the bars afterward. Obviously, six hours in the sun and wind can’t stop college students. The boat ride back was, uh, a bit more interesting, since we were drenched by seaspray the entire time. Mighty salty, that spray.

That night, we attempted to explore downtown Brest and followed a few of our fellow students. They had absolutely no idea where they were; we ended up near the river, which was actually quite a nice view.

More on the weekend in the next entry, plus beaucoup de photos . . .

---

Photos

Morning in Brest
This was truly taken around 7am or so; the sun was completely up half an hour later

The bay and the town
It was amazing how vivid the blues were . . .

Un croix
These, along with moutons (sheep), were everywhere. Turns out that the isle has strong Celtic ties, as all roads signs and maps were written in French as well as Gaelic.

Comments

[Michelle]

:(
I miss you already amy, I really do.

[cynthia]

I love the pics
Granted they are not yours, I know. But Im glad you had so much fun the first week and yes i was laughing at the ikea comment. Im so happy you called me thanks! I was so sad when i had missed your calls that first time. I miss you sooooo much and the apt. But Make sure to keep writting so I can read and what the hell is the code for France? I wanna call you but I lost your number again. Please tell me. Thanks!

[amy m anderson]

how to call France . . .
ok, so I couldn't figure it out and I finally looked it up. 1. Dial 011 (int'l code) 2. Dial 33 (french code) 3. Dial my 10-digit number, but leave off the first 0, thus it's only 9 digits. 4. Voilà. I probably won't pick up because I'm 7 hours later here, and I know you're going to forget that the first 4 times you call. Also, don't be distracted by the voicemail; I haven't recorded my name into it yet . . . Bonne chance! (good luck)

[cynthia]

Phone Number
Maybe you didnt read the whole I lost your number part.What is the 10 digits???? Plus that was a really interesting flower on the other blog. What was it andhow did the chocolate taste??????