Francophile in the West

Op la! This week has been really busy, but really fun. The excursion to Normandy on Saturday was informative and quite eye-opening, but wow, I was mentally and physically exhausted by the time I got back to my room. It was a long bus ride up there and back from Nantes, and it was difficult at times to take in the scope of everything. 10,000 graves in that cemetary! Unbelievable. It's innately very hard to grasp what what happend on and after D-Day, seeing as it was 65 years ago and I didn't experience any of it, but I'm really glad that going to the museum and visiting the cemetary was one of our daytrips, even if it was kind of an emotional Debbie Downer. Monday was my 21st birthday, and I had a great day! I didn't have class until 16:00, so I slept in and took my time waking up and getting ready for the day. I went downtown for a while, did some homework, made myself lunch, and even took a nap! After class, I Skyped with Kris for a bit and then headed downtown to

... now with a hint of cinnamon!! I finally got smart and bought cinnamon at the grocery store to add to anything and everything. I had Herbs de Provence, Garlic and Garlic Powder, Salt, and Pepper, but no cinnamon?? I fixed that up quick. :) Oh gosh, I am SO behind on this thing!! I AM alive and everything is still wonderful. I put Kris on a train back to Paris on Tuesday (the 17th) and things went right back to normal for me here in Nantes. He and I had a great time together and I'm really glad he was able to fly over here and hang out for four weeks! We spent his last weekend exploring Nantes (as opposed to traveling all over creation as we had on the three previous weekends) and we wound up discovering things I didn't even know existed! I finally went inside the actual exhibit at the Machines d'Ile and was able to see all of the other amazing animatronic animal creations they have there, besides my favorite elephant friend. :) We also got in on an absolutely

... it's just really difficult to get online when your boyfriend's in town for four weeks and you're traveling throughout the five corners of France!! We are having an absolute blast. We've visited La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Nice, Antibes (close to Nice), Monaco, Ventimiglia, Itlay (!!), and we just got back from a weekend in Paris. Fan-freaking-tastic. I am thoroughly enjoying all of the new cities I've been exploring. I'll update this thing sometime next week when I don't have anything fun to do because Kris will be back in the States. :( For now, some pictures from each of our weekend adventures... At the Jardin de Luxemburg in Paris Can't go wrong with Sacre-Coeur The view of Nice at dusk from an awesome hilltop fortress High rollers in Monaco! Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux