(Please ignore the random pictures in this--the official music video didn't allow embedding.)
I have come to accept the fact that, unless I get really bored in the next few months, I will probably not be summing up my last two trips, though I'm going to make a shot at my last week in Rennes.
After a lovely time in Copenhagen, Munich, Salzburg, Strasbourg, and Paris, I returned to Rennes for one last week to pack my life up into suitcases (and, it turned out, to curse myself for buying so many books--shocker, I know) and eat. Eat a lot. I made it back on a Wednesday afternoon, and gave myself all of that afternoon and evening to sit around recovering from my travels.
On Thursday Lauren and I started the eating marathon with a trip to Haricot Rouge for coffee, and then one last stop at the Tartine place for tartines (naturally) and dessert. We also did some shopping around Rennes, and then just hung out at her apartment catching up on both of our travels. Emily, one of Lauren's friends, arrived in Rennes on Thursday evening, and so she joined us for our eating fests for the rest of my time.
Friday we did Lebanese sandwiches (falafel, YUM) for lunch, a trip to our favorite ice cream place for a snack (this place has a salted butter caramel ice cream that is my new obsession), and then one last trip to Creperie St. Melaine for dinner. This was actually only the second time I'd been to this creperie, and I wish I'd discovered it earlier--it's miles (or kilometers, rather) ahead of the other creperies I'd gone to.
Saturday was the last trip to the market and the last subsequent picnic. We did our normal rounds at the market--started at 9 to avoid all the crowds and so that they wouldn't run out of fondant au caramel muffins, visited the muffin (and kouign amann) man, grabbed dried sausage, bought strawberries, then walked to the nearby bakery for some baguettes before getting cheese and wine on our way back. We actually got carded buying the wine, which is unheard of in France. It was rather exciting to get carded again after so long! We had the muffins with some coffee at Lauren's, then went for a walk around Thabor until lunch time. Thabor looked absolutely gorgeous. It was only about two weeks since I'd last wandered there, but the roses had completely come into bloom, and it was beautiful. We then sat down for our picnic in the sun, and it was lovely.
Sunday I went to stop at the Lebanese sandwich place one last time with Adriana. This time I got a chiche taouk sandwich, which is absolutely delicious. I loved the falafel one so much right after I discovered this place that I was hesitant to try anything else, but Adriana talked me into the chiche taouk, and I did not regret it. It was a rather French lunch--some old guy sitting at the restaurant decided that, since we were not French, this was a perfect opportunity for him to corner some unsuspecting foreigners and talk about how he has lots of children all over the world, America has more freedom than France (my response: well, freedom to have guns, yes. Freedom to go on strike, not so much), and how scandalous it is that in Scandinavia, men help take care of their children. He kept saying how much he wanted to hear what people from different cultures thought, but he was too busy giving a monologue about his opinions to stop and ask Adriana and I our own opinions. It was a combination of annoying and hilarious. And, since it was a Sunday in France, there was no way we could excuse ourselves. No one works, nothing was open, so no errands could be done--I finally said I needed to catch a bus (which was true, I did need to catch a bus, I just didn't need to catch it at that moment) and Adriana and I went off to laugh over the conversation over more ice cream. Friday night Denise and Jean-Paul had me to dinner one last time, and I got to enjoy semoule and listen to a lovely debate about whether or not Dominique Strauss-Kahn was guilty.
On Monday morning (very early), Lauren, Emily, and I headed to Vitre to spend the morning with Caitlin. We sat around Caitlin's kitchen table, listening to music and drinking coffee for a few hours, and then we helped Caitlin pack all of her things up before heading to an Indian restaurant. I had to get back to Rennes early for a bank appointment (we're going to skip over that fiasco, but suffice it to say that apparently there is only ONE PERSON from this entire bank branch who can access cash, so I ended up making an unwilling donation of 9 euros and 4 centimes to BNP Paribas), and then I had one last galette saucisse. Hung out a bit with Lauren and Emily once they made it back into Rennes, and then I went back to attend to my packing.
See? I told you I basically spent the last week in Rennes eating. When I was not eating, I was packing, unpacking if I discovered things didn't fit, and then repacking in an attempt to make things fit. I managed to get all of my books home without having to ship any, thank goodness, though that did mean I was carting around quite a few books in my backpack during my travels.
The trip back was long, as trans-Atlantic journeys often are, but without incident. I flew Lufthansa for the first time, and they've successfully converted me. Although they couldn't do anything about the fact that it was a nine hour flight, each seat had its own entertainment system (allowing me to watch two movies and a half dozen TV shows over the course of the flight), they handed out warm cloths to wipe your hands with before meals, and the salad had FETA on it, which made my day. I shall never fly United again.
My energies have now been directed towards fighting jet lag. It seems to be a losing battle, as I'm still waking up at 5AM every day, yet wanting to collapse from exhaustion around 5PM. Maybe another week and I'll be able to sleep again?
Anyway, for those of you who haven't heard, I'll be working as a high school tutor in the Chicago area for the next year. I will not be continuing this blog, though there is a chance I'll pick up with my book blog, should any of you wish to maintain my lovely blog-presence in your lives.
Merci, et au revoir!
After a lovely time in Copenhagen, Munich, Salzburg, Strasbourg, and Paris, I returned to Rennes for one last week to pack my life up into suitcases (and, it turned out, to curse myself for buying so many books--shocker, I know) and eat. Eat a lot. I made it back on a Wednesday afternoon, and gave myself all of that afternoon and evening to sit around recovering from my travels.
On Thursday Lauren and I started the eating marathon with a trip to Haricot Rouge for coffee, and then one last stop at the Tartine place for tartines (naturally) and dessert. We also did some shopping around Rennes, and then just hung out at her apartment catching up on both of our travels. Emily, one of Lauren's friends, arrived in Rennes on Thursday evening, and so she joined us for our eating fests for the rest of my time.
Friday we did Lebanese sandwiches (falafel, YUM) for lunch, a trip to our favorite ice cream place for a snack (this place has a salted butter caramel ice cream that is my new obsession), and then one last trip to Creperie St. Melaine for dinner. This was actually only the second time I'd been to this creperie, and I wish I'd discovered it earlier--it's miles (or kilometers, rather) ahead of the other creperies I'd gone to.
Saturday was the last trip to the market and the last subsequent picnic. We did our normal rounds at the market--started at 9 to avoid all the crowds and so that they wouldn't run out of fondant au caramel muffins, visited the muffin (and kouign amann) man, grabbed dried sausage, bought strawberries, then walked to the nearby bakery for some baguettes before getting cheese and wine on our way back. We actually got carded buying the wine, which is unheard of in France. It was rather exciting to get carded again after so long! We had the muffins with some coffee at Lauren's, then went for a walk around Thabor until lunch time. Thabor looked absolutely gorgeous. It was only about two weeks since I'd last wandered there, but the roses had completely come into bloom, and it was beautiful. We then sat down for our picnic in the sun, and it was lovely.
Sunday I went to stop at the Lebanese sandwich place one last time with Adriana. This time I got a chiche taouk sandwich, which is absolutely delicious. I loved the falafel one so much right after I discovered this place that I was hesitant to try anything else, but Adriana talked me into the chiche taouk, and I did not regret it. It was a rather French lunch--some old guy sitting at the restaurant decided that, since we were not French, this was a perfect opportunity for him to corner some unsuspecting foreigners and talk about how he has lots of children all over the world, America has more freedom than France (my response: well, freedom to have guns, yes. Freedom to go on strike, not so much), and how scandalous it is that in Scandinavia, men help take care of their children. He kept saying how much he wanted to hear what people from different cultures thought, but he was too busy giving a monologue about his opinions to stop and ask Adriana and I our own opinions. It was a combination of annoying and hilarious. And, since it was a Sunday in France, there was no way we could excuse ourselves. No one works, nothing was open, so no errands could be done--I finally said I needed to catch a bus (which was true, I did need to catch a bus, I just didn't need to catch it at that moment) and Adriana and I went off to laugh over the conversation over more ice cream. Friday night Denise and Jean-Paul had me to dinner one last time, and I got to enjoy semoule and listen to a lovely debate about whether or not Dominique Strauss-Kahn was guilty.
On Monday morning (very early), Lauren, Emily, and I headed to Vitre to spend the morning with Caitlin. We sat around Caitlin's kitchen table, listening to music and drinking coffee for a few hours, and then we helped Caitlin pack all of her things up before heading to an Indian restaurant. I had to get back to Rennes early for a bank appointment (we're going to skip over that fiasco, but suffice it to say that apparently there is only ONE PERSON from this entire bank branch who can access cash, so I ended up making an unwilling donation of 9 euros and 4 centimes to BNP Paribas), and then I had one last galette saucisse. Hung out a bit with Lauren and Emily once they made it back into Rennes, and then I went back to attend to my packing.
See? I told you I basically spent the last week in Rennes eating. When I was not eating, I was packing, unpacking if I discovered things didn't fit, and then repacking in an attempt to make things fit. I managed to get all of my books home without having to ship any, thank goodness, though that did mean I was carting around quite a few books in my backpack during my travels.
The trip back was long, as trans-Atlantic journeys often are, but without incident. I flew Lufthansa for the first time, and they've successfully converted me. Although they couldn't do anything about the fact that it was a nine hour flight, each seat had its own entertainment system (allowing me to watch two movies and a half dozen TV shows over the course of the flight), they handed out warm cloths to wipe your hands with before meals, and the salad had FETA on it, which made my day. I shall never fly United again.
My energies have now been directed towards fighting jet lag. It seems to be a losing battle, as I'm still waking up at 5AM every day, yet wanting to collapse from exhaustion around 5PM. Maybe another week and I'll be able to sleep again?
Anyway, for those of you who haven't heard, I'll be working as a high school tutor in the Chicago area for the next year. I will not be continuing this blog, though there is a chance I'll pick up with my book blog, should any of you wish to maintain my lovely blog-presence in your lives.
Merci, et au revoir!
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