Lieu Unique and other adventures

It's been another great week in Nantes! One of my assistant friends is having a birthday this week, so we decided to go out and celebrate! On Thursday, we went to "Les Moules du Bouffay", a restaurant in town that specializes in my favorite- mussels and limitless fries! Sooooo delicious.

Last night, six of us gals had dinner together at one assistant's apartment, and then we walked over to the Lieu Unique bar. You might recognize the name. If you've ever eaten a Petit Ecolier cookie, then you know LU! The company is from right here in Nantes, and years ago they turned their old factory into a bar/restaurant/club, museum, etc. It's a really fun place to go out for drinks on the weekend; lots of interesting people watching.

When we arrived at the bar, we saw on a big screen that it was 'biker night'. Needless to say, there were lots of people with awesome beards, tattoos, and biker club jackets! We even spotted the French chapter of the Hells Angels! Pretty wild, haha. We found a quiet little corner in which to hang out and enjoyed some drinks and the nightlife.

N posing with the French Hells Angels. I love this! 

Dancin' a little bit with M!

Lieu Unique is a very popular place, and part of the 'charm' is how random and run down the place is, while being 'chic' and hip at the same time. An odd combination, but it really does work!

The creepiest bathrooms, but an awesome bar.

We had a fun night, and I personally enjoyed chatting with some French folks that we met about the upcoming US elections and the pros and cons of Socialism in France - all in French! That made me feel really good about my level of French. Even though I speak a lot of English here with the other assistants, I do feel like I'm still improving and learning things every day from hearing and reading French constantly. I love the language in all its forms.

This week, I've also been napping a lot. Last weekend, I felt like I might be starting to come down with a cold, so I decided to take care of myself as much as I could during the week. That meant a big nap everyday (except Tuesday) and lots of tea! My favorite type of tea for fall is Tibetan Lemon-Honey. When my parents and I were in Lhasa, Tibet a couple of years ago, we went to a restaurant with our guide and he recommended the drink. I tried it and fell in love with it immediately. Luckily, it's literally just lemon and honey and water, so it was easy to figure out how to make it! 

First, you squeeze a good-sized layer of honey into the bottom of a glass (no mug! Only a glass for best results. And be generous with the honey! :) ) and then squeeze about half of a fresh lemon into 1 1/2 cups of water, then cut some slices of the lemon and add them to the water as well. Boil that up in a pot on the stove, then pour it into the glass over the honey. Mix it together, and you're ready for relief from a cold, or just a great drink for the fall and winter weather. The sweetness of the honey balances out the sourness of the lemon to make the perfect hot drink. I highly recommend it!

Tibetan Lemon-Honey Tea!

This next week will be my fourth week of teaching at the high school, and it should be a busy one! Lots of dinners with coworkers and friends. After that, I have a two-week break from work for the Toussaint (All Saints) holiday. I love the way the French work! :)