Life in France: One complaint, 99,999 compliments

Being in France is absolutely wonderful, and most days, I wish I could stay here forever. However, it still comes with its small inconveniences. For example, all of the paperwork that one must fill out for everything (detailed in my previous post), the fact that Europe is so expensive, and also the fact that I don’t have internet in my apartment and probably won’t until sometime in November. At first, this was due to the fact that I had just created a bank account and was waiting to receive my bank card in the mail (French internet companies can’t accept cash or American cards to pay for their services). Now, the issue is that I have a bank card, but there is no money in the account because the bank will not accept deposits of cash. So, now I have to pay to transfer money internationally from my bank in the USA to my bank in France.  Only after that transfer goes through will I be able to set up an account with an internet provider, and then after that, it will take 8-20 days for the internet to actually start working in my apartment (“Why?”, you ask? I have no Earthly idea…).

Fortunately, though, that is the one and only thing I have to complain about with regard to living in France. Yes, it has been raining a lot here, but I’m beyond used to that from living in the Pacific Northwest for so long, so that’s not a problem. And, when it is sunny here, it is absolutely beautiful. Crisp, sunny fall days are the absolute best, in my humble opinion.  In addition, I’m no longer living out of a suitcase, I can cook for myself anytime I want, Nantes itself is gorgeous, French people are alternately hilarious and fascinating (and they’ve all been so kind!), my job is pretty easy, my apartment is awesome, I’ve been meeting great people, I get to speak and hear French every day, the transit system in Nantes is amazing, the bars and restaurants are fantastic and in abundance, the Elephant at the Machines d’Ile is adorable and super cool, I’m a 10-minute walk from Talensac (my favorite daily market), a genuinely good bottle of wine here costs 3.50-6.00USD (as opposed to $18-30 in the USA), Chevre cheese is EVERYWHERE and I LOVE IT, and finally, even without internet in my place, there are tons of places with WiFi all around town. I don’t mind buying a café crème in order to get internet; it’s a good excuse to enjoy one every day!

I loved this purple door at the Chateau!

The Chateau at Saumur

I had another dinner party at my apartment this past Friday night. This time, we wound up cramming a total of seven girls into my 20m² apartment! That has to be a record, haha. I cooked up spaghetti with meat sauce, someone brought a salad, others brought baguettes and cold cuts and cheese, of course we had plenty of wine, and then one of the gals brought a fondant chocolate cake and crème fresche for dessert. So tasty! It was a fun night, and we all had fun chatting away late into the evening.

Saumur and the Loire

Cute old Frenchman. Pipe. Sausage. FRANCE!

On Saturday, I took myself on a day-trip to a town called Saumur, located about an hour east from Nantes by train. Saumur is a very ancient little town right on the Loire, so of course there was a chateau! I explored the chateau and its various exhibits in the morning, wandered around the town’s Saturday flea market/farmers market, and then took myself out to a fantastic lunch. I had half a dozen escargots for an appetizer, followed by traditional boeuf bourguignon with a glass of red wine. Whoa. Talk about the epitome of a French meal! It was delicious, and I’m glad I treated myself. :) After lunch, I wanted to visit the Mushroom Museum, since Saumur is very well known in France for its troglodyte caves (man-made caves where mushrooms are cultivated), but the museum was four kilometers outside of town, and I didn’t feel like walking both ways or paying for a cab. Instead, I enjoyed a café crème ‘au terrace’ and then made my way back to the train station and headed back to Nantes. It was a great day, and it was quite fun to get out of town and see some new territory. The Loire Valley has a fascinating history and is a very fertile part of France, both in general and also as far as wine-growing goes. I hope to make more day-trips to other cities in the region!

Escargots, cooked in their own adorable dish!

Boeuf bourguignon. Délicieux!

Another amazing part of my third week in France was having dinner at Anne-Marie’s house!! If you’ll remember from waaaaaay back when I studied abroad and blogged from Nantes for the first time in 2009, Anne-Marie and Andre were the ‘host parents’ for the UW study abroad group. Every month, the group would go over to their apartment downtown and enjoy a traditional, home-cooked French meal, and they also chaperoned the group on three different excursions throughout the semester (Mont St. Michel/Saint Malo, Chateau Chenenceau, and the D-Day beaches in Normandy). Anne-Marie and Andre are AWESOME and I consider them to be my French grandparents. They also have an adorable dog named “Poupette” – yes, really! I kept in touch with Anne-Marie by mail after I returned to the USA, and even saw her in the summer of 2010 when she came to Seattle to visit her daughter (who works at the UW; that’s how the whole arrangement was established). As soon as I knew that I was coming back to Nantes, I was so excited to see Anne-Marie and Andre again, but I didn’t have her phone number! I finally got a hold of it early in the week and immediately gave her a call. She invited me to dinner at her house on Thursday with one half of the current UW group; how could I say no?!

What a great evening! It was fun to meet some of the current study abroad kiddos and catch up with Anne-Marie and Andre. We enjoyed a delicious meal of the most tender lamb I have ever eaten, green beans, and these tasty, meaty white beans that I need to figure out the name of. For dessert, Anne-Marie presented us with some hand-made apple tarts! How wonderful and French!! She invited me to join the second half of the group for their dinner on the 25^th, and she also said I would be welcome to join them on their excursion on November 10^th, which will be a day-trip to Andre’s native region of Bretagne. OH, and they are going to be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for the entire UW group on Thanksgiving (Nov. 22^nd this year), which she also invited me to. When I mentioned that my birthday was the day after Thanksgiving, she said, “Oh! Well, we’ll have to have a Gateau Royale for dessert!” Ahhhhhh! You don’t understand; Gateau Royale is my FAVORITE!!! If it were possible, I would fly that cake from France to wherever it is that I get married. IT’S THAT GOOD. Needless to say, I am super-ridiculously excited about all of this and am so glad that I kept in contact with her! She and Andre are absolutely among the most genuine and kind people I have encountered in my life. I brought her flowers when I went over for dinner this week and I’m planning on doing something nice for her every time I see her. They always treat the UW kids so well, so I figure they deserve to be treated as well in return, even if just with any little gestures that I can provide. 

Poupette!

I’d say my third week here was an absolute success! The first two chaotic weeks are over, work is underway, and I absolutely love living in France. I really do hope to spend as much of my life in France as I can possibly manage. It is a wonderful country, and I can’t get enough of French language, culture, food, and people!!