Francophile in the West

Just a quick note to tell you all that 1) I'm alive, 2) I'm done with work in France!, and 3) I'm leaving tomorrow to start six weeks of vacationing through Europe!!! Don't be disappointed if there aren't any new posts until June... I will happily re-live the adventures here with you with lots of pictures as soon as I get back to the USA. My old friend from high school, Seth, arrived on Thursday and we have been enjoying some sunshine and shenanigans here in Nantes. Tomorrow morning, we'll be heading out to Amsterdam, then off to Spain. That's part one! Part two is Belgium and Turkey with Kris, and part three is two weeks in France with my family. I'm so excited! I can't believe it's all here! It's very hard to say goodbye to all of the wonderful people I've met and the new friends I've made here in France, but I always have faith that I will run into the right people again at the right time in life. Until the next post, keep tra

Over the weekend, N and I made a semi-spontaneous trip to Tours to visit the city and see the nearby  Chateau Chenonceau . N had asked me last weekend if I had ever been there, and if not, was I interested in going. I was all too eager to see a new place, so away we went! We hopped on the train on Saturday morning and changed trains in Tours to get to Chenonceau just after midday.  Chenonceau is an absolutely beautiful castle that was built across the Cher river in the early 15th century. The site of the current chateau has a much longer history, with other, smaller chateaux existing and then being destroyed in that location from the 12th century. WOW. Can I tell you again how utterly amazing France is?!? The woods and grounds in which the chateau is situation are lovely! Even though it's early April, not much was in bloom in this area, but we enjoyed the scenery even with bare trees and sporadic bursts of flowers.  The interior of the chateau was incredible!! Such

It's April!! Today's high was 40°F and I wore a scarf, gloves, and wool hat to stay warm! Awww... Haha. Actually, last week and last weekend, we had some absolutely beautiful sunny days here in Nantes. Since it was Easter last Sunday, Monday was a holiday- no work! I was happy to be able to take advantage of the long weekend and the sunshine by going on a couple of photo adventures with N and Juan. On Sunday, the three of us met up with C for some coffee in Commerce (how's that for alliteration?), and then we went on to explore Parc de Procé, which is a HUGE park north of downtown. I pass by it every day on the bus to work, but I hadn't yet had a chance to explore it. I'm glad we wandered through! The main part of the park is lovely and the whole thing would be a great place for a run. The back part of the park kind of reminded me of Ravenna Park in Seattle. :) Below is one of about ten pictures I was able to snap before the battery in my camera died. Fail. On