I just wanted to get you all excited for the big stuff that's going down this week!! My little sister, Juliana, is flying over to Nantes, and we'll spend next week hopping around France together!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!?!?!!!
In Nantes, there is a 37-floor skyscraper named the Tour Bretagne. Pretty cool. Even icier is that there is a bar located on the 32nd floor that has an observation deck that allows you to drink and creep at the same time. So, basically it's like every other bar in the universe. The only distinguishing factor between this bar and the majority of others in the world is that I went there with my friends Ali and Mike.
Those are my friends. Proof!
Decent view, eh?
And if that wasn't reason enough to go there, the bar is called "le nid" (the nest), and is set up as a giant goose nest. HILARIOUS! The seats are all broken eggshells, and this guy is even there to greet you:
Looking painfully unimpressed. Yup, he's French.
This place was really a lot of fun, except for the fact that we didn't get seats because we came at the high noon of pre-dinner drinking (also knowns as 6-8pm). But it was fun all the same, and it would definitely bring a great place to bring kids! We saw tons of mini-Frenchies sipping on their limonades. Chic.
I really love music. Like a lot. Like so much that I studied music and how to teach it to others for the last 4 years of my life. In fact, this year marks the first time in over 8 years that I'm not devoting at least one hour of my day to become a better musician. Crazy.
So, I've decided to add a little music to this blog. From time to time, I will post the songs that are getting me though this year. Ok, "getting me through" might be a bit of an exaggeration of my situation, but there are most definitely songs that make me smile, remind me of the important things in life, or feel like a little hug to my ears. And who doesn't love hugs?
So, here goes:
My song for today is Jason Mraz's "93 Million Miles." Mr. A-Z is one of my all-time favorite artists. Not only is he a phenomenal singer, he's also a clever lyricists with a sensitivity to life that I think just about everyone can relate to.
This song is all about growing up and exploring life, and the adventures that may come with that. However, he reminds us that no matter what your situation, regardless of where you go and what you become, "you can always come back home."
I love my home of Indianapolis, but I am quickly falling in love with the tiny town of Savenay that I'm living in. However, I don't think I'd be as quick to enjoy where I'm at if I didn't have a solid base, a place that I know no matter what I do, I can fall back on. And that comes from all of the friends and family (whether they be located in Indy or not) who I know are there for me, regardless of where I am or where I'm going.
That's pretty cool.
So is this song.
"Just know where that wherever you go, no you're never alone, you will always get back home."
I have been so blessed with the presence of two of my great friends this week!
Ali and Mike, and a real French chicken!
After two weeks of meeting new person after new person, it has been so nice to be around people who have known me for more than October of 2013. (Ali and I have been friends since high school, and were roommates for 3 years in college; that girl has no option but to know me well!)
So what do you do in a tiny town like Savenay for a week with two people who have been travelling through some of the greatest cities in Europe for the past two weeks? What can I offer them that no one else has?
This!
Food, I tell you! And copious amounts of it! We are on a mission to try as many cheeses, wines, and baguettes as possible this week, and we are succeeding.
Mike and Ali really are the best guests ever though. They are ok with just hanging out while I teach during the day, they don't complain when you tell them you live in a high school, and (most importantly) they cook! Very well, I might add.
Mike made us clams last night. Uhhh yum.com.
Overall, it's been a great few days. I am so grateful to have such great company here, and I am loving ever minute of it. I mean, how could you not when you end every night looking like this?:
If you're blissfully unfamiliar with the French bureaucracy (like I was about 3 months ago), then count your blessings. It feels like since the moment I arrived, I've been filling out paperwork, copying my passport, and visiting the secretary to ask what I need or hand in something I've just completed. Really, it's quite entertaining...or something like that.
Today alone, I've been in communication with multiple professors, the French consulate in Chicago, as many of my fellow assistants as possible, and 2 different secretaries just trying to figure out one document in particular. Without getting technical, it's a formal request to stay in France that I no longer have to make. (Worry not, I've loads of others to request.) However, it seems like no one other than other assistants are up to snuff on who needs what and where it goes. All in all, it's been loads of fun, and I can't wait to have it over with. But it has me wondering... what other countries are like this? Is France especially annoyingly out-of-sync in their communications between departments or is that pretty common? I'd love to know if you've had any experience with this.
This weekend, I was able to visit a really good friend who's living in Saumur, France. (Check her blog out here.)
This is more or less the path I took. Thanks, Google Maps.
It was a great weekend full of a chateau, pre-made baguettes full of deliciousness, chocolate flan, watching the TV show "Arrow," chatting with the locals, searching for churches (that I'm still not sure really exist), finding other churches with attendable masses (because the church actually existed), watching men fish on the Loire River while waiting for the newly-found mass that's an hour after the originally-planned-upon mass, watching Yvlis' "The Fox" (hilarious, by the way) and finding bikes!! All in all, it was a great weekend, and I'm forever grateful that I had a few moments to hang out with a great friend.
But like all good things, this weekend had to come to an end, so I boarded a direct train back to Savenay, ready to prepare an introduction of myself to present to my students on Monday. About an hour into this hour-and-a-half trip, there was a strange noise from atop the train. At first, I thought "Santa! Is that you?" sure that it was the sound of little hoofprints atop our train! Alas, it was but our train breaking down, which meant that we would not be moving for the next 2 hours. Finally, I made it home after an unexpected stop in Nantes, and I couldn't have been happier to see my roommate and apartment.
Once again, I've been reminded that our plans are only made to be broken. I did, however, make it home safely, so there are no complaints coming from me!
