My Favorite Crêperie

Hey, everybody!

There are few things that I love to do more than eating, so this blog post is dedicated to the best (and pretty much only) place to eat out in the town of Savenay: my crêperie, O Crêp'uscule.

The food is wonderful, and the service is even better.  Though we only went there six or seven times over our six months there, the server knew us about half way through the year.  By the end, we were telling him about our plans for next year, why we were here, discussing language differences, and laughing at the fact that he still spoke in hyper speed.

Open every day except Tuesday (I think), this little restaurant seats no more than 40, so you always feel like you're sitting in someone's really nice dining room.  I just can't say enough about how much I'll miss this crêperie.

He's the man.

Note about the picture: I would have cropped it so that you could see everyone's faces better, but I love that you can see the restaurant a little this way.  Just behind that counter is the little kitchen where they cook all the crêpes.  If I'm not mistaken, they only cooking surfaces for three crêpes or galettes at a time.  It's the best!!

Much love to all,
Angie

The Big Two Three

So, I turned 23, the beginning of the end of birthdays that are inherently really cool, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself all the same!!

Spoiled with birthday love.

Even though I haven't been home for any of my previous four birthdays, I was a little worried that it would be a bummer to be so far away from everyone on the 19th of March.  Oh was I wrong...

One of my colleagues at the collège where I work invited me over for lunch with her three precious daughters. That obviously worked out well. I now live with her.

Then, my awesome, awesome roomie, Natalie, offered to make me lasagna for my birthday without even knowing that's my go-to birthday meal at home.  Talk about wonderful.

Yes, it was as delicious as it looks.

I was also just showered with lots of birthday love from friends and family around the world. It was really a special day that showed me how strongly you can feel love from people, no matter what the distance!

My turn to wear the birthday hat.

 Lovesies.
Angie

St. Paddy's in Nantes

Apparently St. Patrick's Day is really gaining popularity in France.  As it was Bailey's last night here, and, well, one of the best holidays in the year, we decided to try our luck going out in Nantes. Not only were there people out, they were all over the place! Every pub had people inside, outside, and down the street.  What a fun atmosphere!! They were even throwing St. Paddy's paraphernalia off the roof of one pub we visited.  I got a little hat.

Cheers.
Angie

And to finish in Nice...

We spent a day doing nothing but strolling the market, eating 1.5 kilos of strawberries, and sitting on the beach.

This is the life.

Good times.

Angie

Gelato Break

There are many beautiful things to see in this world, and there's this:

Delicious gelato.

Bailey and I made a stop at Fenocchio (pronounced like "Pinocchio" with a strange "p" turns into "f" speech impediment) while we were in Nice, and can I just same yum?!

Here are the flavors we selected. See if you can guess which is which:

passion fruit, cassis (blackcurrant), salted caramel, Bailey's, cactus, and spicy chocolate

Worry not. They were all delicious.

Mmm.

Angie

Row, Row, Row Your Yacht

So this is Monaco:

What a gorgeous place, right? Because of their tax laws, it often attracts the rich and richer, which means that we had some fabulous boats to oogle at.  Ya, oogle.

Well-chosen name.

These will go nicely with our new wheels. Thank you.

We tried our hardest to meet a couple of handsome, young yacht owners who wanted to whisk us away, but alas, all I whisked was gelato into my stomach. No complaints!!

Much love!

Angie

Trying Our Luck at the Monte Carlo

Bonjour a tous,

Guess what! We get to keep living the fun of my trip with Bailey through pictures and happiness!! WOOOO!!!

So, while we were in Nice, the same day that we stopped in Èze Village, we went to the sovereign city-state of Monaco. (No, totally did not have to look that up.)

Our first stop off the bus was the beautiful Monte Carlo!

It's the one on the left.

Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside, or else I'd show you what the lavish interior looked like.  We did, however, try our hand at some slot machines. I lost my 10 euro reeeeeally quickly. We don't need to talk about it.

Probably my favorite part of the Monte Carlo was all of the ridiculously beautiful cars parked out front.  Bailey convinced me to take a separate trip back up to the casino because we didn't take any pictures with the cars the first time.  I am so glad she did because if she hadn't we wouldn't have these beautiful snapshots:

My new ride.

Yes please.

Just stopping by the casino for a minute.

Girl's Day Out!

This was a huge reminder that sometimes you just have to be a tourist.  I'm pretty sure that every local was cracking up at us, but it was totally worth it!

Much love to all of you!
Angie

Gettin' Essited!!

Hey, everyone!!

I just wanted to let you know that I'm super excited to move in with family. It could be a terrible idea, but I know it's not. You want to know how I know? Because there's no way in heck this happiness is going to have anything but a good time there!

So, go and choose your happy, people! Today is as full of smiles as you make it!

WOO! Time to go finish packing!!

Lovesies,
Angie

And This Is What My Apartment Looks Like Mid-Packing

Too bad you can't see the bed covered in piles of clothes!

I really should work on shortening those titles. 

Peace,

Angie

A Walking Tour of My Apartment in Photos

Hey, everyone!

Big news! I'm moving in with a super precious French family tomorrow evening.  I'll be there through the end of my time here, so I thought this, my last night in the apartment, would be the perfect time to put up pictures of my beautiful home in Savenay.

Without further ado, I present to you my apartment...

When you walk in the door, this is the first thing you see: my kitchen!!

AKA YUM ROOM

Let's look around to our right, shall we?

Oh hey there, little oven!

You still make no sense to me.

 

So there's one half of the kitchen.

Our lovely little table.

Check out the year on that bad boy.

So, that's the door you came in through.  Let's go back out and to the left to see the other rooms!

Ooooh! Hallway!

 First door on the left is:

Natalie's Room!

P.S. I totally did not ask before taking these picture of her room. Sorry, Natalie!

Back to the hallway. Next stop: first door on the right!

And here we are...

Woo! Sink!

And our lovely shower.

So, that's it for that room.  You may have noticed something's missing from a typical bathroom, and you are right... if you're not in France!  The toilet is generally in its own little haven in French homes.

Back to the hallway!

Now we'll go all the way down to the end of the hallway, and down the stairs...

And there she is.

Complete with pink toilet paper.

And there's only one room left!! I bet you can guess which one it is...

MY ROOM!

Welcome!

My bed!

My wall and desk!

My clothes!

My post card and map wall!

Another picture of my bed!

Well, kids, I think that's about all! That's where I've been living for the last 6 months, and I must admit I am a little sad to leave it.  My room has been home, and I've made a ton of great memories here, but I am so excited to spend a few weeks living with a French family! I'm sure it will be a great end to a wonderful year.

Love from France,

Angie

Le Poisson d'Avril

Happy April's Fish Day, everyone!!

Yes, the French still play pranks on the first of April.  In fact, one of my choir members told us we were all going to be on TV for our upcoming concert!  Good one, Christine!!  However, rather than just outright calling it a day for fools, it's a day for fish.  Who knows?

Love to all,
Angie

My Entire Town Smelled Like Manure Today

I just thought you should all know.

Love,
Angie

The American: Sandwich Edition

L’Américain

- Find crusty baguette

- Cut open

- Insert 2 hamburger patties

- Cover in fries

- Add toppings to taste

I distinctly remember the first time I had one of these bad boys the first time I was in France.  My sister told them we had to try them, and man was she right.  They are good!!

I can honestly say I've had them less than 5 times, because they're a little hard to find and I don't eat out much, but they are so good!  And what's more, they're just hilarious to eat because it's called "The American"...because this is all we eat in the old USofA: burgers and fries.

Good times, good times.

Angie

Èze On Down the Road

We knew before we ever got to Nice that we wanted to do a day in Monaco because it is just too cool to pass up.  However, what we didn't know is how many cool cities are along the way.  Like you've read, we stopped in Villefranche one day, and decided to stop in the village of Èze (pronounced like fez, minus the 'f') the following day.  It was a great little stop that can be done in about two hours or less.  Boo ya!

The whole village is made of stone!

Apparently the golden goat is a thing...

Buddies in Èze!

After exploring the village of Èze, we went to this perfume factory where we took a tour of the building, and were dumped into the gift shop.  Let's just say there was some damage done.

The craziest thing about this factory is that you could smell it all the way from where we were standing taking the picture below, if not before that!

Our spoils!

It was a great, girly stop on our way to Monaco!!

Loves.

Angie