And so, the hot chocolate returns...

... 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 fantastic performance by the Nantes Symphony. Kris really enjoyed it, as did I, and it was fun to introduce him to that and all of the other things that I love so much about life in Nantes. He even got in on a dinner at Anne-Marie's!! While he was here, we ate LOTS of delicious food (too much- I desperately need to start running again, haha), had a hot chocolate or a cafe creme at a cafe at least once a day, took over 2500 pictures between the two of us, and trekked through Nantes, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Nice, Monaco, Antibes, and Paris on foot and saw some truly awesome things. I enjoyed all of the places we visited, but I'd have to say that Bordeaux was my favorite.

The rest of the week has gone smoothly. Classes will be wrapping up here in three weeks (YIKES!!), so there are lots of things to prep for concerning the end of the semester and the 'exams' and projects that go along with it. This next week is going to be intense (like camping!); tomorrow, we have our last excursion out to the beaches of Normandy, which I'm really excited about. Monday is my 21st birthday, so of course I'm going to go out for dinner and drinks with as many of my Nantes friends as possible. Wednesday, I have this big 'dossier' due for my culture class about a francophone author (I decided on Irene Nemirovsky, but I haven't yet started, of course), as well as dinner at Anne-Marie's house (one of my favorite things EVER!!). There's another Symphony concert on Thursday night, and then there's a huge Thanksgiving dinner for all American students in Nantes on Friday night, which should be awesome. I love it! Being busy is my forte. When there's not much to do, it's hard for me to stay motivated to do whatever there is that I do need to do, but when there're a ton of things on my To-Do list, I'm all over it.

Hmmm, other exciting tidbits... I found the French version of the children's book The Giving Tree (L'arbre genereux in French) at the FNAC bookstore downtown and bought that thing up right then and there. I love that book and I'm planning on reading the French version to my future children so many times that they'll know the French and the English by heart. :) I love picking things up for children that don't and won't exist for another 8-10 years, haha.

ALSO, I did a very exciting French trick today! Only French speakers will get this though, unfortunately. Anyway, I was talking with my friend Mari after class -Mari is American, too, but we like to talk to each other in French as much as possible to practice- and when commenting on the weather in Nantes, I said "Le temps fait beaucoup plus meilleur que je n'ai pense" (sorry there are no accents!). I used that blasted trickey 'ne' that has nothing to do with negating a phrase!! I didn't even think about it until Mari told me that she had just learned about that little 'ne' the day before. Oh gosh, it was such a wonderful moment! It was like using 'y' or 'dont' in conversation and using it correctly and not having to think too hard about it. A sure sign I'm improving!! Wow, I'm quite excited about that little feat. :)

Okay, enough for now! I have a 'Skype date' with my sister and then one with Kris, and then I need to eat dinner and get to bed early so I can wake up at 5am for the excursion! A plustard!! <3