Another great day here in France! Got up early and met Helene and the gang at the Place du Cirque tram station, and we walked around town for a bit, then went to breakfast in this gorgeous old restaurant called “La Cigale” (The Cicada) that’s located right across from Nantes’ opera house, which is also spectacular. We had the Nantes version of the typical French breakfast of orange juice, hot chocolate, and fresh croissants. Delicious as usual. Helene showed us a good chunk of town after breakfast, and we finally ended up at the Orange store, where most of the students in the programs bought cell phones with SIM cards, while myself and two others already had unlocked cell phones and just bought the SIM cards for them. I’m really glad my mom sent me over with an old phone! I saved 24 euros on that today. Win.
After all that, we mosey’d into the bookstore at the Place de Commerce called Fnac, where I bought a French-language copy of Pride and Prejudice, as well as a book from the Petit Nicolas series. Fed would copy those stories sometimes as part of a reading comprehension test or just to read for fun, and I always thought they were quite cute. I figure it’s an investment in future children’s books. The only bad news is that evidently, no one in France has heard of either Ayn Rand or Dr. Seuss!! I really want to track down The Fountainhead and Oh, The Places You’ll Go! in French, but it looks like it’ll be more difficult than I thought… I’ll have to keep trying.
A bunch of us also bought a one-month TAN pass for the trams and the busses, which I think will come in really handy. The trams are awesome for getting in and out of town and exploring and stuff. It’s 30 euros a month, but considering a 24-hr pass is 4e and a 1-hr pass is 1e50, multiplied by how much I’ll be using it, I’m going to save big. I also wound up at the Bureau de Tourisme downtown and bought some postcards and an awesome map and city guide, which I’m excited about. There are a lot of things I want to see, so I’m glad I can know my way around! Nantes really is such a gorgeous city. I brought my camera with me today and wound up getting some amazing shots of the city and the streets and a couple of the beautiful cathedrals downtown. I can’t wait to track down the Ile de Machine and see that crazy huge animatronic elephant.
We all took our placement tests yesterday, and we’ll find out the results of that on Tuesday morning, after which time we’ll register for classes, and then school starts on Wednesday! So, I have a good two and a half days to go to IKEA and take more pictures and explore non-stop before I get started with classes. Although, from everything I’ve been told, classes are not going to be much of a worry at all. I’m really ready to just go with the flow and let life take me where it will and enjoy every minute of this experience. I went for an epic run tonight around the area by the dorms. I got a tad bit lost, but I just Forrest Gump’d it and kept running and eventually found my way back around. I went between 3-4 miles. I haven’t run in many weeks, but I did a great job tonight, I’m really sore! I’m going to try to run at least semi-regularly while I’m here. It’ll be a good way to get to know the city and it’ll keep me up and active and help burn off some of this savory French food I keep eating!
Goals for tomorrow and Monday/Tuesday- Head down to the Talen-Sac Market to people watch and maybe buy a tasty crepe or some fresh food, go back to the SNCF train station here in Nantes and buy a Carte 12-25 so I can start getting awesome discounts on train tickets, make my way back to the H&M downtown and hopefully buy some more clothes (!!), as well as go to IKEA and buy a blanket, a pan, and some other cooking items. And of course I’ll be taking more pictures, as always.
There’s a gorgeous muted sunset going on outside of my window and I’m in for the night after my run, so I think I’ll do some reading and get ready for bed and call it a night. I am extremely happy and in awe of every day.
After all that, we mosey’d into the bookstore at the Place de Commerce called Fnac, where I bought a French-language copy of Pride and Prejudice, as well as a book from the Petit Nicolas series. Fed would copy those stories sometimes as part of a reading comprehension test or just to read for fun, and I always thought they were quite cute. I figure it’s an investment in future children’s books. The only bad news is that evidently, no one in France has heard of either Ayn Rand or Dr. Seuss!! I really want to track down The Fountainhead and Oh, The Places You’ll Go! in French, but it looks like it’ll be more difficult than I thought… I’ll have to keep trying.
A bunch of us also bought a one-month TAN pass for the trams and the busses, which I think will come in really handy. The trams are awesome for getting in and out of town and exploring and stuff. It’s 30 euros a month, but considering a 24-hr pass is 4e and a 1-hr pass is 1e50, multiplied by how much I’ll be using it, I’m going to save big. I also wound up at the Bureau de Tourisme downtown and bought some postcards and an awesome map and city guide, which I’m excited about. There are a lot of things I want to see, so I’m glad I can know my way around! Nantes really is such a gorgeous city. I brought my camera with me today and wound up getting some amazing shots of the city and the streets and a couple of the beautiful cathedrals downtown. I can’t wait to track down the Ile de Machine and see that crazy huge animatronic elephant.
We all took our placement tests yesterday, and we’ll find out the results of that on Tuesday morning, after which time we’ll register for classes, and then school starts on Wednesday! So, I have a good two and a half days to go to IKEA and take more pictures and explore non-stop before I get started with classes. Although, from everything I’ve been told, classes are not going to be much of a worry at all. I’m really ready to just go with the flow and let life take me where it will and enjoy every minute of this experience. I went for an epic run tonight around the area by the dorms. I got a tad bit lost, but I just Forrest Gump’d it and kept running and eventually found my way back around. I went between 3-4 miles. I haven’t run in many weeks, but I did a great job tonight, I’m really sore! I’m going to try to run at least semi-regularly while I’m here. It’ll be a good way to get to know the city and it’ll keep me up and active and help burn off some of this savory French food I keep eating!
Goals for tomorrow and Monday/Tuesday- Head down to the Talen-Sac Market to people watch and maybe buy a tasty crepe or some fresh food, go back to the SNCF train station here in Nantes and buy a Carte 12-25 so I can start getting awesome discounts on train tickets, make my way back to the H&M downtown and hopefully buy some more clothes (!!), as well as go to IKEA and buy a blanket, a pan, and some other cooking items. And of course I’ll be taking more pictures, as always.
There’s a gorgeous muted sunset going on outside of my window and I’m in for the night after my run, so I think I’ll do some reading and get ready for bed and call it a night. I am extremely happy and in awe of every day.
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